City of Strangers
by word.oracle
Summary: Rafael and Max Lightwood-Bane can be the most annoying duo, especially when Clary, Jace and Izzy are babysitting. Their favourite game is hide and seek, but who knew playing it could end up with them being lost in Paris. Even though they're taken in by the Paris Institute, danger is currently lurking around every corner and the race is on to get them back home safe. Reviews Please!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Alec stared at a painting which was a beautiful sunset covered in multicoloured splashed of paint. He didn't understand the point of the painting; he had seen Clary create the perfect sunset, but she didn't then ruin it by scribbling all over it. It was more than safe to say that art wasn't his forte.

"Why are we here again?" Alec whispered into Magnus's ear,

"I've rejected the host thousands of times and if we didn't come, we'd never hear the end of it," Magnus sipped his champagne, "and there's free unlimited champagne so I don't see why you're complaining."

Magnus grinned and ran his hands through Alec's hair. At least once a week, Alec found himself going to a special event hosted by one of his boyfriend's friends. It was annoying at first, but the little games he and Magnus played while at the events made the whole thing much more enjoyable.

"Magnus, dear, you came," a cheery voice came from behind them.

Alec turned to see a thin, lavender coloured woman with golden hair that had daisies entwined in it. She wore a long pastel green dress with daisies twirling around it and when she put her hair behind her pointed ears, daisy glittering earrings were revealed. She embraced Magnus and kissed both of his cheeks.

"And who have you brought with you?" she looked at Alec as if he were a piece of art,

"This is my partner, Alexander Lightwood. Alec, this is Daisy, believe it or not," Magnus smiled,

"Well, he's certainly an upgrade from the likes of Camille. Do you like my art collection?"

"Erm, I do actually, they all have such different meanings and depths to them, I'm surprised that someone can have such a contrasting collection," Alec let the lies flow from his mouth,

"Why, thank you. You better keep him Magnus, or I'll find myself going after a Shadowhunter again."

Magnus laughed and finished his glass of champagne, "Big question: when is the meal?"

"In a couple of minutes, but I do hope you can stay afterwards for the party, sweetie," Daisy caressed Magnus's cheek,

"I truly wish we could, dear, but we have children to get back to,"

"Ugh, you're maturing Magnus and I do not like it," and with that, Daisy floated off to her other guests.

Alec began to wonder how Max and Rafael were doing. They usually left them with Alec's parents, but as they were on business and Tessa was busy, they had to leave them with Izzy, Clary and Jace. If it was just Clary, then Alec wouldn't be as worried, as she had the ability to stop Max from being so hyper and Rafael loved watching her draw, but Izzy and Jace weren't the best when dealing with children. As he thought about the havoc that may have been taking place at the Institute, Magnus sorted out his collar.

"Stop wondering how the boys are doing, they're most likely sleeping right now," Magnus smiled,

"But they're different when they're not with us," Alec looked into Magnus's eyes,

"That's because we're their parents and they know that we're not afraid to punish them,"

"What if-"

"No. No what if's. They're our boys, they're good boys and they're probably being little angels for them, okay?"

Alec kissed him, "If you say so."

Meanwhile, at the Institute….

"Max, come back here now!" Jace yelled as he ran after the cheeky warlock boy down the hallway.

It was almost midnight and Jace and Izzy had been chasing after Max for at least an hour since Clary and Rafael had gone to sleep. Max had been jumping on the beds, drawing in random books he found, trying on Jace's clothes and then making a mess on them and he had been doing all this when his bedtime was three hours ago. Jace saw Max make a sharp left turn into the training room and dread instantly filled his gut and before he could even make it into the room, there was a massive crash. Izzy darted to the door at the same time as Jace and looked at him with terrified eyes.

"If he's dead, it's your fault. Got it?" Izzy slowly walked into the room.

Max was sat in front of the shelves that should've held all of the training rods. Instead, all the rods had fallen on him and the poor boy looked dreadfully confused. Even though he was a cheeky little bugger that made Jace want to wipe children off of the earth, it made him slightly sad to see such an energetic boy start to cry just from bumping into something.

"Are you okay Max?" Jace asked softly as Izzy pushed the rods off of him,

"Ouch," Max wept,

"It's okay, we'll make it better," Jace sat next to him and Max instantly fell into him as he cried.

As Jace consoled Max, Rafael and Clary walked in. Clary was wearing one of Jace's t-shirts and shorts and did not look very happy to have her sleep interrupted. The seven year old holding her hand looked all snug in his blue silk pyjamas and clutched his teddy as he sat next to them.

"I swear to god, I have been asleep for only one hour. I leave you two with him for _one hour_ and this happens," Clary spoke with an exhausted voice, but Jace could hear the anger in it,

"How much will you pay me to not say anything to dad or papa?" Rafael asked,

"You cannot be serious" Izzy looked down at him with folded arms.

Rafael simply looked up at her, folded his arms and nodded. Clary and Jace laughed at the cunning boy, while Izzy was obviously not impressed.

"I'll buy you that violin that you want," Izzy knew it was an offer that he couldn't refuse,

Rafael considered her offer for a brief second, "Okay," he smiled, kissed Max's head and walked back to bed.

"I don't know what would make Alec madder, Max getting hurt or Rafael getting a violin," Clary yawned as she left the room.

Once Rafael had kissed Max's head, Max seemed to calm down a little and sniffled as he looked up at Jace.

"Can I have hot chocolate before bed? Promise me be good," his blue eyes shone as he spoke,

"Of course you can, but let's not risk aunt Izzy making it," Jace smile as he got up with Max in his arms and took him to the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

It was a sunny Monday afternoon, the perfect time to take the boys out for a picnic. Magnus wanted the boys to get out as much as possible, as them running around the flat always ended up with something breaking. Magnus, Alec and Izzy sat on a white blanket under a large tree, they had eaten half of the food they brought with them and Clary and Jace were playing with the boys out in the sunlight. Every now and again, Max and Rafael would look over to Magnus and Alec to make sure that they were still there, as if they would ever leave them. It was a regular thing for the boys to become paranoid about being left alone- they'd sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, walk into Magnus and Alec's room, check that they were still there and then go back to bed. Magnus knew how hard it was to accept that you were wanted when you had been left alone with no one to care for you or tuck you in at night, which made him even more determined to make sure that the boys had the best life possible.

"Oh, I was meant to thank you, Izzy," Alec said,

"For what?" Izzy asked as she adjusted her sunglasses,

"For getting Rafael a damn violin."

Magnus laughed while remembering Alec earlier that morning trying to look impressed at Rafael's unfortunately awful violin skills. It reminded Magnus of when he attempted to play the charango and the amount of insults Ragnor threw at him.

"He can't be that bad," Izzy began to giggle,

"The demons I have killed made better noises then that bloody thing," Alec showed no sign of amusement,

"We'll get him a good teacher and then you'll eat your words," Magnus kissed his cheek and took a slice of cake.

The boys charged at them giggling and Jace and Clary followed looking absolutely exhausted. Max instantly sat between Alec's legs while Rafael took Magnus's cake out of his hands, sat next to him and began munching away.

"I was enjoying that Rafe," Magnus looked at him,

"Now I am," Rafael giggled.

Clary and Jace lay next to each other as the panted like dogs. Jace got a bottle of water out of the cooler and before he could take a sip, Clary took it from his hands quicker than lightening and began to take in the entire contents. Rafael and Max were probably the most energetic children on the earth, especially Max. You could put Max in an empty room and he'd most likely find something to do that would keep him hyper for a good twelve hours. Rafael was usually only hyper when with his brother; when on his own, he would blast music out from their stereo while catching up on reading or attempting to make cookies.

"You boys need water," Magnus said as he took out two bottles.

Max being an experimental warlock child reached his arms out and the bottle of water slowly floated into his hands.

" _That_ he can do, but when I ask him to clean up his mess, it's impossible for him," Jace sighed,

"You don't clean up when with uncle Jace?" Alec looked at Max as he drank,

"I do sometimes, but it hard," he said with a cute voice,

"Just be glad he cleans his room," Magnus said as he gave Max some apple slices.

After a brief break, the boys were ready to play again and this time they wanted Alec and Izzy to play with them. They took a ball and went back into the sunlight as Clary moved next to Magnus and ate a sandwich. Clary was one of the most helpful when it came to looking after the boys; she knew exactly how to calm them down when they had had too much sugar, she'd draw them things to colour in (even if they did mess up her great drawings) and would even sometimes take them to get ice cream if Magnus and Alec needed a break. Rafael warmed to her the most, probably because they both had a love of art.

"Could you do us a favour?" Magnus asked,

"What day do you want me to look after them?" Clary smiled,

"Wednesday evening so I can surprise Alexander,"

"What you gonna do?" Clary grew a cheeky smirk,

"Candlelit Italian dinner and then dessert,"

"Even _that_ was too much information," Jace said as he sat up,

"Why don't we ever have candlelit dinners?" Clary looked at him.

It was clear on Jace's face that this was one of those questions that he dreaded and was never prepared for. Magnus had to admit, he was quite the romantic when it came to dates and surprises for Alec, but that was because he felt the need to show how much he loved him at every moment which resulted in movie scene worthy memories.

"Because I have other plans for us," Jace came up with his best excuse,

"Those plans better include a candlelit dinner," she looked at him,

"We don't need candlelight when I am all the light you need,"

"Were all the Herondales like this?" Clary turned to Magnus,

"Yes, but with better hair," Magnus laughed,

"Leave the hair out of this," Jace kissed Clary's cheek before lying down again.

If you told Magnus a few years ago that he would be in a relationship with a Shadowhunter with two adopted sons and having picnics as one big happy family, he'd probably tell you that only the relationship bit was possible. He didn't see himself as much as a family guy, most likely because he tended to care about his cat more than any human, but he was pretty damn thankful that he was given this family. He took out his camera and took pictures of the boys playing with Alec and Izzy, Jace sleeping with a squirty cream moustache courtesy of Clary Fairchild and when the sun began to set, he got a photo of all them in front of the beautiful scenery.

When they got back home, Magnus put all the picnic stuff away while Alec got the bath ready for Max and Rafael ran straight to his beloved violin. He made sure that the whole neighbourhood could hear how bad he was by playing near the window.

"How about you take a rest from playing," Alec suggested,

"But I want to be really good," Rafael replied,

"Well, then just don't play until we get you a teacher,"

"Si," Rafael put the violin down and sat on the sofa.

Magnus sat next to him and gave him a bowl of his favourite ice cream. The need for something creative to do was something Magnus loved about Rafael, especially when it meant him doing something that got on Alec's nerves. He sat with Rafael talking about the time he learned the charango when Alec called them both into the bathroom.

"I don't want to see Max naked," Rafael complained,

"It will be worth it," Alec called.

They both went to the bathroom to find Alec on the floor in hysterics and Max in the bath with white frothy bubbles on his head in the form of a Georgian Period wig and a mound of bubbles creating a beard and moustache. Max looked so happy with his new look and giggled and splashed in the bath while they all laughed.

"He is the strangest brother ever," Rafael laughed, "but he's the best."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Promise me you'll be good for them," Magnus said to Max and Rafael,

"We'll try, papa," Rafael smiled,

"Try try," Max laughed.

Before Magnus could knock on the Institute door, Rafael did three loud knocks and Max did five small but powerful ones. Soon, Izzy opened the door, smiled at Magnus, but then looked down at the boys with a hint of fear in her eyes. Magnus knew that eventually the boys would take Izzy and Jace seriously, but until then, he enjoyed the fact that they drove them absolutely mad.

"Clary told me you were coming," Izzy said as they walked through the hallways,

"Yeah, well, I want to surprise Alexander," Magnus smiled,

"A good surprise or a bad one?"

"We'll soon find out,"

"What do you and dad do when we're here?" Rafael's question was out of nowhere.

Luckily, before Magnus could respond, Clary ran towards them, scooped Max up in her arms and tickled him. The sound of Max laughing was better than any music Magnus had ever heard.

Rafael then ran to Clary and hugged her legs, "Auntie Clary!"

"Go to the kitchen, Jace is there with paint," Clary smiled as she put Max down,

"I race you," Max giggled as he ran,

"There's no point; you're a warlock," Rafael laughed as he ran after him.

Magnus had made sure to teach both of his sons to appreciate each other's differences. He knew it would be weird for them at first, but it didn't take long before Rafael began to abuse the fact that Max was a warlock by asking him to make things fly over to him. Max on the other hand tended to accept everyone no matter what part of the shadow world they were in which made Magnus think that he could easily be his biological father.

"I wish I could stay to see the mess, but I have a date to start planning," Magnus said,

"When will you pick them up?" Izzy instantly asked,

"Most likely, tomorrow afternoon or evening. Why? Are you that desperate to get rid of the little angels?" Magnus joked,

"No, I just need to prepare myself for how long I will have to hide my clothes from them for."

It had just gone 6pm when Alec stepped out of the shower and realized he couldn't hear Max's giggling or the sound of Rafael attempting to play the violin. He wrapped the towel around his waist and searched the apartment to find that he was alone. Magnus hadn't said anything about taking the boys out, maybe they had gone out to get ice cream. Alec put on a pair of black jeans, sat on the sofa with his towel around with neck and looked at the mess around him. Max had so many toys that he had lost count and cleaning them up was at least a thirty minute job. It was easy for Magnus as he could wave a hand and all the toys would perfectly fit in the box's that would then slot into the corners of the room. With a sigh, Alex got up and chose to start cleaning up the toys under the sofa first. As he stretched out into the unknown, a knock came at the door. He wasn't expecting anyone. _It's probably a delivery_ , Alec said to himself as he walked to the door and opened it. Standing in front of Alec was Magnus with a red rose between his teeth and the rest of the bouquet in his hand, a chocolate brown box with a ruby red ribbon was between his arm and his body and the dashing man wore a sharp midnight blue suit with a collar encrusted with sparkling jewels. Magnus's hair was slicked back, there was obviously tempting lip gloss on his lips and his eyes twinkled, resembling the jewels on his suit. This was something that Magnus had never done before. When they went on dates, it was usually planned, Magnus would always give Alec a present and Alec would always feel embarrassed when comparing the present he gave to the one he got from Magnus.

"What are you doing?" Alec smiled,

Magnus took the rose out of his mouth and gave it to Alec, "What does it look like? We're going on a date."

When Alec took the rose, he realized that Magus was looking from his eyes to his chest and abs on a loop. Alec chuckled and kissed him passionately. He expected Magnus's strawberry tasting lips to be sticky; instead they were cravingly soft and smooth with the sweet strawberry flavour bursting on his tongue with every kiss. Despite being curious about what was in the box, Alec grabbed it from Magnus's arm along with the roses and threw them onto the couch as they kissed. With their lips still locked, Magnus closed the door behind him and Alec pushed him up against it, took off his blazer and ran his hands through his hair. The addictive sensation of being entangled with Magnus- his hands eagerly roaming around his back and chest, his velvet lips occasionally venturing down his neck and him teasing him by nibbling his ear- gave Alec pleasant goosebumps. As their kisses grew more and more passionate and heated, Alec started to undo the buttons on Magnus's shirt, but soon became impatient and ripped the shirt apart. Suddenly, Magnus pushed Alec round and pinned him against the door with his arms above his head, before biting his neck hard enough to make Alec moan. Magnus smirked as he cheekily kissed, licked and bit everywhere on Alec's chest, stomach and shoulders, but not his lips. Alec bit his bottom lip and tried to move his hands so he could touch Magnus, but Magnus was adamant on being dominant and wasn't letting his hands go. All the teasing made Alec desire Magnus's juicy lips even more, but whenever their lips were almost touching, Magnus would sometimes move away.

"Why are you being such a tease?" Alec moaned,

Magnus slowly brushed his lips up Alec's neck, "because you love it," he whispered.

Alec liked it when they had sensual sex, but kinky sex was something that he loved more, so he simply let Magnus do what he wanted with him. Magnus let go of Alec's hands to pull at Alec's trousers, leading him to the bedroom without taking his eyes off of him. Magnus pushed him onto the bed, climbed on top of him and began to kiss his neck and then worked his way down. As Alec gasped, he gripped Magnus's hair and watched him as he slipped his trousers and boxers off.

"Let's have some fun," Magnus smirked as he got up and took something from the dresser.

He revealed two scarves and tied one around Alec's wrists and the other he turned into a blindfold. Losing a sense only made Magnus's rough but skin tingling touch drive Alec crazy and he found himself almost begging for Magnus to stop only licking his body down to his hips. As Magnus ran his hands up Alec's body, he slowly put his silk lips on the head of his dick. Alec moaned louder and louder as Magus's hot wet mouth slid lower and lower.

"Don't stop," Alec gasped,

"You know I won't."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"What's this?" Rafael asked Clary,

"It's a portal; it can take you anywhere you think of. But only trained Shadowhunters can use them," Clary replied as she stood back from it.

They were in Clary's room, getting the colours and paints ready for a fun and messy session of art. Rafael had seen Magnus create a portal before. This portal looked exactly the same, but instead, there were runes on the rim of this one and it didn't glitter as much.

"How can you create one? You're not a warlock,"

"That's what makes me so special."

Magnus had told him that Clary and Jace were different types of Shadowhunters, but he didn't tell him how. By sticking around Clary whenever he was at the Institute, Rafael had learned that Clary could hide objects in paintings and now he found out that she could create runes that didn't even exist. It was a little annoying to be surrounded by special people and be the normal one who had no talents or special qualities, but he had a feeling that the violin would be his first of many talents.

Max didn't mind staying still, as long as he was doing something interesting. Colouring in Clary's drawings was a way for him to be creative, even if he didn't really know what he was colouring in. Sometimes Clary would draw something simple like a flower, a tree or even Max himself, but the drawing she had given him had too many swirls and lines for him to work out what it was, so he just guessed what colour everything was meant to be.

"That's really good, Rafael," Clary said as she picked up Rafe's piece of art,

"What about mine?" Max asked excitedly.

Clary tilted her head sideways as she looked at his finished creation, "You coloured in the grass…blue,"

"I realize it was grass," Max looked down,

"I must admit, it is a very complicated drawing. It's meant to be the split between the Earth, heaven and the underworld, but I do like the idea of blue grass," Clary picked him up, "maybe we should hunt for some,"

"Yeah," Max clapped, "and then we could plant yellow flowers,"

"Do you mean daffodils?" Rafael said as he put his drawing next to Max's,

"No, the other ones,"

"Sunflowers?"

"Yups."

Max knew he wasn't the smartest. He hadn't been taught much before he was taken in by Magnus and Alec, but he was catching on fast. In less than two years, he knew how to spell better than most children his age, he could speak some Spanish (thanks to Rafael) and he knew almost every shade of every colour (thanks to Magnus). But anything too complex- like maths, drawing anything other than flowers and hearts and saying long words- was too much for his young and special brain to handle.

"What we do now?" Max asked as he played with Clary's hair,

"Well, I think dinner should be ready by now," Clary smiled.

Dinner was Max's favourite- tomato pasta with meaty bits in it which somehow ended up staining his blue cap. Though Max loved it the way it was, Rafael regularly put a red sauce on his food that he said would be too hot for Max. But today, Max was determined to try some.

"Max you can't," Izzy said as she moved to thin bottle of the sauce away from him,

"But I want it," Max complained,

"You're too young," Clary insisted,

"For god sakes, just give it to him or he'll start crying and I have a headache," Jace said and on cue, Max began to cry.

Izzy took Max's bowl, put a drop of the sauce on his pasta, mixed it in and then slid the bowl back to him. Max sniffed and looked down. His pasta looked exactly the same, it smelled exactly the same and hopefully it would taste the same. He took a spoonful of his pasta and slowly brought it up to his lips. Everyone was staring with worried faces, well, everyone apart from Rafael, he had an anticipating expression on his face. Max shoved the pasta in his mouth and began to chew. At first the pasta tasted the same, but then his tongue started to tingle and a pleasant burning started to occur on the inside of his cheeks.

"It's yum," Max giggled as he dug into the rest of his pasta.

After dinner, Rafael and Max wanted to play chase with Izzy, Jace and Clary. Max loved playing chase, mainly because the Institute was so big that there was almost too much space to run in, but also because it was fun watching the three babysitters run out of breath and soon become annoyed at Max and Rafael's stamina. Magnus and Alec could keep up simply because the apartment wasn't that big and eventually Magnus would use his magic and make the boys float onto the sofa and stay there. Max and Rafael planned their routes around the Institute so that they didn't bang into each other and quickly split up and ran as fast as they could. Max always had Jace running after him- probably because he was the only one that could almost keep up- and the sound of Jace's feet against the wood only made Max run quicker. He wasn't sure if it was magic making him so fast or the fact that he was so hyper, but after not even ten minutes of playing, Max soon turned back to see Jace stop and catch his breath.

"How are you so hyper?" Jace panted,

"That's what dad says," Max giggled,

"Great parabatai think alike."

Max started running again and after a couple of minutes, he decided to give Jace a chance and took a break to get a glass of lemonade. When he got to the kitchen, it appeared that Rafael had the same idea and was already drinking lemonade with a glass waiting for Max on the table.

"Maybe we should play another game," Rafael suggested,

"Like what?" Max asked as the only game he could ever think of was chase,

"I have an idea."

Jace hated chase. It was the worst game ever invented, especially when it included Max Michael Lightwood-Bane. He followed the little one into the kitchen to find him drinking with his brother. Izzy and Clary came in behind him, both of them as exhausted as he was and they took a seat while guzzling down water.

"Can we play another game?" Rafael asked,

"Please say chess," Jace begged,

"Hide and seek."

At first, Jace was ready to protest, but hide and seek meant that the boys would have to stay in one place and Jace could leisurely search for them without wanting to dunk himself in ice cold water.

"Okay, we'll count to ten and remember, you have to stay in one place," Jace agreed.

After he finished his probably tenth glass of water, he began to count down from ten and the boys scuttled off giggling like evil masterminds.

"We need to get tranquilizers for those two," Izzy said as she got up and prepared herself,

"I may invent a sleep rune," Clary laughed.

They were a handful, Jace had to admit, but there were points when the boys were fun to be with. Sometimes Max would experiment with his magic which involved making Izzy chase her floating shoes or Jace giving him things to change Alec's stuff into. Rafael was a very intelligent and curious child and it was nice to have him ask Jace so many questions and actually listen to what he had to say. But right now, Jace wanted the boys to fall into a deep sleep and only wake up when he wanted them to.

The first place Jace searched was the library, but they weren't there. Then he went to the training rooms, but they had chosen a different hiding place. He went to the main sitting room to the study to his bedroom to the bathrooms and the basement, but he couldn't find them anywhere. He was roaming the hallway when he heard Clary call his name in a panicked way. Jace thought Max had hit his head again as he ran to Clary's bedroom, but what he found out was much worse. Izzy had her arm around Clary who was breathing heavily in front of a swirling portal.

"It will be okay," Izzy reassured her,

"What happened?" Jace asked.

Clary turned to him holding Max's blue and pasta stained cap. It didn't take Jace long to link it all together.

"Well, they found the best hiding place."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Is this good idea?" Max thought that Rafael would choose for them to hide under the bed, not in a portal,

"The point of the game is to win, if we go through, they won't find us and we'll win, comprende?" Rafael was oozing confidence,

"Okay," Max latched onto Rafael's hand as they approached the portal.

The wind blowing from the blue and purple swirling mass made Max's cap blow to the ground and he started to feel cold. He was nervous; he had never even seen a portal up close before, but the fact that he would be with his brother made him feel much more at ease and slightly excited.

"Remember that massive tower that papa says he'll take us to," Rafael said,

"The feefil tower," Max replied with certainty,

"Think of that the whole time."

Max nodded and they took a step forward. This was going to be the best game of hide and seek ever. Max closed his eyes and tried to imagine a really tall pointy structure, surrounded by light and with cars rushing around it as he and Rafael stepped through the portal.

When Max stepped out of the portal, he was surrounded by at least hundreds of people. There were some people taking pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower (or feefil tower), strange people trying to sell key rings and some didn't seem to care about the wondrous structure they walked under and got on with their lives. This was the most exciting and thrilling thing Max had ever experienced. The lights danced in his eyes, the smell of popcorn made his mouth water, the feeling of the breeze in his hair was sensational to him and the amazed look on Rafael's face let Max know that he wasn't alone.

"What do we do now?" Max asked,

"Let's stay for a little while," Rafael giggled as they walked underneath the Eiffel Tower.

Max made sure to remember where they left the portal as they walked further away from the tower and towards a seemingly quiet park. Max had never wandered anywhere without Alec or Magnus and he was starting to like it as he and Rafael played games in the dark and were free to be as loud and hyper as they wanted.

"If I catch you, you have to organise Aunt Isabelle's wardrobe!" Rafael shouted,

"Never!" Max laughed.

They ran around for what felt like merely seconds when Max bumped into something. Something big.

"Sorry," he said as he staggered back.

A large pitch black thing slowly turned to face him with eyes as red as blood but no mouth. It reminded Max of a giant blob of sticky tar, but whatever this was, it had mouths crammed with sharp teeth on its hands and the mouths looked ready to eat.

"RAFFY!" Max cried.

The poor boy was so scared that he found himself unable to run and he could only stagger back while wishing that his dad and papa were there to save him. Rafael soon appeared behind him and grabbed his hand so tight that it almost hurt. The brothers were petrified. They had never seen such a terrifying demon before and this enormous grotesque one was the stuff of nightmares. The demon raised its hands and its eyes grew wider. Max began to cry and begged for his parents. Through his tears, he saw a slash of light, heard a loud deep groan and witnessed the demon melt into black thick liquid which soon disappeared. In front of them was a tall woman with golden blonde her, piercing blue eyes and more importantly, she had runes covering her body. Max had never been so thankful for a stranger. The woman looked down at the boys in confusement.

"Are you hurt?" she simply asked,

"No miss," Max shook his head,

"Stranger danger, Max," Rafael whispered.

Before the woman could respond, another one of the large black demons came running towards them. Max couldn't do anything but scream. The woman instantly picked Max up, put her seraph blade in its sheath, grabbed Rafael's hand and started running. She ran with unnatural speed and constantly told the boys that everything was going to be okay, despite the demon chasing them down. Max had had nightmares of what demons were like, but they were always slightly smaller than him and looked funny, the reality was much more petrifying.

"Theo!" the woman cried.

Seconds later, a bright white ring fell around the demon, stopping it in its tracks and making it groan. A tall, muscular man flipped over it, landing between Max and the demon and pierced it with his seraph blade, his lasso then turned back to its normal colour and he drew it in before hanging it on his belt. The man turned around and looked at Max and Rafael with wide eyes.

"I wanna go home," Max sniffed,

"How did you get here in the first place?" the woman asked,

"There's a portal under the tower," Rafael explained before letting go of the woman's hand and running towards the tower.

The woman and the man followed. But there was no more portal. Max wished he had enough magic to create one as he simultaneously yearned to be in Magnus's arms instead of the blonde stranger's. He then realized that if they couldn't get home, Jace would never find them. They were lost. Max began to cry even more.

"Ssssh, it's okay. We'll just take you to the Institute and call your parents," the woman smiled,

"Je déteste les enfants," Theo muttered under his breath,

"Ferme-la s'il te plait," the woman snapped as they began to walk.

Throughout the short walk, Rafael had to keep reassuring Max that they'd be okay and he occasionally sang a Spanish lullaby with the intention to make Max fall asleep, but it didn't work. The bright lights, mass of people and want for his parents kept Max very much awake and sobbing, but what made him go quiet, was when they approached the Paris Institute. Max had heard Magnus saying that they were doing work on the Paris Institute to make it look grander, but if anything, it looked more like a palace. The exterior walls were cream with arched stain glass windows rimmed with gold, gold rimmed arches with runes along them and a golden statue of the angel Raziel on the top of the stupendous structure. They boys were taken to the study where they sat on a very elegant black chaise lounge and watched as the strange man and woman talked.

"I don't like him," Max pointed at the blonde haired tall man,

"Don't worry, we'll be home soon," Rafael clasped Max's hand.

The blonde woman had clearly had enough of the man and slapped him round the face before picking up the phone and tapping her foot.

"Oh, my name is Esme, and this is my brother Theo," she smiled.

Max simply waved.

"Hello, this is Esme Garson from the Paris Institute, we have two young boys here who claim that they got here through a portal," she sang sweetly.

Slowly, Max leaned on Rafael and soon had his head on his lap like he would when he got tired while watching TV with Alec.

"Oui, I suggest you pick them up very soon, everything is less than calm here at the moment," Esme went still for a while, nodded and then put down the phone, "your parents will be here as soon as possible,"

"Tired," Max yawned.

Esme showed them to an extravagant room with two beds fit for two sleepy princes. The walls were a royal blue with a white swirl pattern covering it, the black curtains had gold tassels, the floor was polished so well that the small chandelier was reflected off of it, the wardrobe looked large enough to contain another room in it and the beds were more than bouncy enough for Max. Max instantly curled up on the bed without even taking his shoes off, unlike Rafael who made sure to have both his shoes and socks off before getting under the covers.

"Bonne nuit," Esme whispered as she turned off the light and left them to sleep.

"I want my teddy," Max sniffed,

"Dad will bring it," Rafael replied before singing a Spanish lullaby which this time made Max fall fast asleep with hopes of waking up to his dad and papa.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"WHAT?!" Alec almost fainted with the rush of shock and anger,

"We're so sorry," was Isabelle's fifth apology,

"How in the world could you lose them?!" Magnus exclaimed with clenched fists as he took a step forward.

Clary, Izzy and Jace took a simultaneous step back and stood looking at each other in guilty silence, but the silence only made Alec more convulsed. He had trusted the three of them with secrets, his bow and arrow and his life, but it seemed the one thing he couldn't trust them with was his children.

"If you carry on making those moronic blank expressions, I swear I'll-" Magnus was so close to completely losing it, but Alec's hand on his shoulder calmed him down a fraction,

"Erm," Clary finally found the courage to speak,

"Please, out of the three of you, tell me it wasn't your fault Clarissa,"

"Erm, well," Clary stuttered as she watched Magnus and Alec try not to kill her, "I made a portal as a trick to impress Rafael and I kinda left it there and erm, we played hide and seek," she knew she didn't have to say anything else.

This was one of Alec's worst nightmares come true and he seriously wished he was dreaming. He and Magnus had made a promise to the boys that they'd always be there when they needed them, and right now, they were most likely lost and needing their parents, but neither of them were there.

"I'm sure they're okay," Jace stated,

"How do you know that? They could be on a deserted island or in the middle of a jungle or in a burning building or a sinking ship," Alec had to stop before he started imagining the worst possible scenario,

"They're most definitely not on the titanic," Jace attempted a joke and the silence matched with the growing rage on Magnus's face let him know that he failed.

As Magus ranted at the irresponsible three like a grandfather, Alec heard the phone ring and ran to it, praying that it would be Rafael or Max. At first, he was deeply disappointed to hear a French woman's voice, but when she carried on, he became elated and relieved. After spending a brief minute on the phone, he returned to the group. All the anger and worry had completely drained him and he fell onto Magnus with his head on his chest.

"They're okay," Alec sighed with relief and everyone else joined him,

"Thank god. Where are they?" Magnus put his arms around Alec,

"The Paris institute. We promised to take them to Paris,"

"Max doesn't have his teddy," Magnus realized.

Alec watched as Magnus's hand disappeared for a second and then came back holding a teddy bear with only one button eye and patch work pieces on its stomach. A tear fell down Alec's cheek as he thought of Max and Rafael going to sleep without being tucked in or getting a night kiss or having their night light on near them. Magnus's face had lost all colour and his eyes were dim, making Alec not only worry for Rafael and Max, but his boyfriend as he looked so very close to passing out.

"I'll create a portal and we'll be there in no time, okay?" Magnus kissed Alec's head,

"I want them back," Alec whispered,

"So do I."

Magnus kept one arm around Alec as he created a portal and Clary insisted on the rest of them coming. Alec had never felt so helpless and the only thing keeping him together was the comfort of Magnus's arm around him. When the portal was ready, Alec took a deep breath and looked up at Magnus.

"Think of the Paris Institute or Paris in general," Magnus instructed,

"Will there be time for sightseeing?" Jace tried to lighten the mood again,

"I would happily strangle you right now, but I promised Tessa that I wouldn't," Magnus grabbed Jace's top, "but I wouldn't mind breaking that promise just once, so don't push it."

Alec squeezed Magnus's hand as he watched everyone else enter the portal. How could he possibly lose his children? That was something bad parents did, maybe Alec's best at being a dad wasn't good enough. As they entered the portal, he saw Magnus kiss Max's teddy bear and close his eyes.

They stepped out of the portal in front of the Paris Institute and with Alec's hand firmly clasped in Magnus's. When in a foreign place, Alec would usually take time to take in the beauty of the architecture, but this time, he pushed past everyone else and went straight to the Institute door with Magnus being dragged behind him. He slammed the golden knocker three times.

"What if-" Alec started,

"No, they're fine," Magnus interrupted and squeezed his hand.

The door creaked open to reveal a very tall and striking blonde man. His eyes were a pool of chocolate, his cheeks looked like they had been naturally sucked in, his blonde curls were perfectly arranged on his head and you couldn't help but let your eyes gaze over his prominent biceps.

"Well bonjour," Izzy sang flirtatiously,

"Bonsoir, je m'appelle Magnus Bane," Magnus introduced himself and the man instantly let them in.

Alec saw him go outside and scan the area before coming inside, slamming the door shut, locking it and adding an extra lock rune to the door.

"I am Theo, I speak little English," Theo said in one smooth tone as he led them through the Institute.

The amount of relics, portraits, landscapes and sculptures in the place made it feel much more regal and slightly like a museum. They walked through many candle rimmed corridors until finally turning into the study which was a grand affair of dark wooden panelled walls, a rouge carpet and of course, a spectacular fireplace. Sitting at the desk towards the hack of the study was a woman with the same golden hair as Theo, piercing blue eyes and rosy cheeks. As she got up, she fixed her chin length hair and made her way over to them.

"You must be from the New York Institute," she smiled,

"Where are Rafael and Max?" Alec instantly asked,

"They've just fallen asleep in one of the chambers. Which of you are the parents?"

"We are," Alec pointed to Magnus,

"I wouldn't wake them up if I were you,"

"We'll wait."

Alec sat down and the others joined him. The phone soon rang and Theo ran to it, but it only took a couple of seconds of being on the phone for him to nod and then hang up.

"Tant de demons, si peu de temps," Theo muttered as he put a long leather jacket on,

"We have a demon problem to fix, so make yourselves at home. Oh, my name is Esme by the way," Esme smiled as she got out a seraph blade from underneath the desk,

"Nice to meet you, I'm Clary," Clary made Esme freeze,

"You are, aren't you?! And you're the Lightwoods and you're Magnus Bane and you're Jace Herondale. This is an honour. I've always wanted to meet you and when I called, I thought they'd just send normal Shadowhunters, but not you. Wow, your eyes really are a luminous gold," Esme got so excited that Theo had to pull her away, "we'll be back," she waved as she left.

Alec knew they had all gone down in Shadowhunter history, he just never experienced someone fangirl over them. But, right now, he was annoyed that he had been left in the Institute, waiting for the boys to wake up and he didn't even know where exactly they were. Magnus pulled Alec into him as he sensed everything that was running through his head.

"Esme seems lovely," Izzy broke the silence,

"And Theo is very nice to look at," Clary giggled,

"Excuse me?" Jace looked at her with wide eyes,

"Oh please! You flirt with girls all the time _and_ in front of me,"

"Yeah, to get us discount off our bill or movie tickets,"

"Don't worry Clary," Alec said, "Magnus does it too."

Alec laughed and they all joined in as he found something to stop his mind from worrying.

"One of us had to be the flirty one and you're not very good at it," Magnus laughed,

"He has a point," Izzy commented, "out of us, I'm the one mum and dad thought would get married first, because you're so… Alec,"

"I can flirt. I got Magnus didn't I?"

"Actually, it's clear that it was Magnus who got you," Jace grinned.

They ended up arguing over what Alec was and wasn't as well as who was the sneakiest, messiest, cutest and other things to pass the time as they waited for the two sleepy boys to wake up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Rafael woke up and looked at the clock. He had only slept for two hours, yet Max was still fast asleep. This had been the first time Rafael had not had a dream and it frightened him; was something wrong with him or was it because he was lost? As he lay there trying to fall asleep, he heard a loud hysteric laugh come from somewhere in the Institute, followed by a chorus of normal ones. Amongst the laughs, he recognised a sweet one that reminded him of Clary giggling at his jokes.

"I HAVE NEVER DONE THAT!" a voice boomed.

Rafael instantly jumped upon recognising the voice and Max began to wake up while murmuring the word 'dad'. Alec shouting at them was terrifying and made Rafael almost cry, just like the voice he had heard.

"Dad?" Rafael asked himself while looking at Max,

Max nodded as he yawned, "Papa?"

"DAD!" Rafael yelled.

He grabbed Max's hand and ran towards where they had heard Alec while screaming 'dad' and 'papa' at the top of their lungs. They quickly ended up outside the study door and could see Alec and Magnus standing up while Jace, Izzy and Clary were sat down.

"Did you hear that?" Magnus asked,

"I think so. But I still insist that I do not laugh like that when I'm drunk," Alec replied.

Rafael was going to walk in calmly, but Max had spotted his teddy bear which he darted for and held into his chest.

"PAPA!" Rafael ran to Magnus and squeezed his legs,

"Rafael," Magnus smiled as he picked him up.

Rafael hugged him as long as he possibly could while Alec scooped up Max into his arms and tickled him. Losing his real family was absolutely horrible and being lost and away from his new parents made Rafael relive what he felt when he had to wander the streets. He had grown so close to Magnus and Alec in the blink of an eye to the point where he rarely thought about his real family, making losing Magnus and Alec completely out of the question.

"We're sorry dad," Max sniffled,

"It's okay, you're safe now and that's all that matters," Alec smiled,

"We just wanted to win the game," Rafael explained,

"Well, I can safely say that you've definitely won," Jace chuckled,

"I missed you, Jace," Max giggled.

Jace went silent with a face of absolute shock before smiling, taking Max from Alec and hugging him. Max and Rafael rarely showed their love for their aunts and uncles as they were always playing tricks on them or playing games, but they did truly love them and missed them almost as much as they missed their parents.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," Clary sighed as she got up,

"I think I know where the kitchen is," Magnus said before leading them through the maze that was the Paris Institute.

It took a while and a lot of shouting, but eventually, they made something to eat- they being everyone minus Izzy. As they were eating, Esme suddenly burst into the kitchen with two cuts on her cheek and her hair in an absolute mess.

"We need you," she panted.

Alec, Izzy and Jace instantly stood up to attention whereas the boys continued to dig into their food as if Esme wasn't even there.

Magnus looked at Esme, "What's wrong?"

"Demons and forsaken are swarming around Paris and they seem to be coming from a specific place, but we don't know where,"

"Do you have a bow and arrow I could use?" Alec quickly asked and Esme answered with a nod, "then let's go,"

"I'll stay with Max and Rafael," Clary suggested.

Magnus and Alec looked at each other and contemplated if they could trust Clary a second time. The boys were always sensible when it was just Clary and they were most likely going to go back to sleep after eating, so it wasn't like they would have to be entertained. Magnus nodded before kissing both Max and Rafael's heads and promising them that he would be back.

Esme took them to the weapons room which was more like a giant stone cave than a room. As they all took their preferred weapons, they became stunned into silence as Magnus took a sword and attached two daggers to his belt, but there was no time to question whether he even knew how to use them. They followed Esme through the backstreets of Paris until the Eiffel Tower looked small enough to fit in their pockets and they stopped by a café with smashed windows. Theo ran out of the café with his shining lasso around three forsaken. His shirt was ripped, allowing his abs and chest to peak though and he had a few cut, but none of that seemed to faze him as he swiped his blade though the necks of the forsaken. He then turned to them and causally waved.

"They're spreading like wildfire and demons are coming with them. We don't know where they're coming from but we do know that they always come down these streets and 400meters east and west. Magnus go east with Isabelle. Jace go west with Alexander. Try to see where they're coming from and stop them from going any further. Got that?" as Esme gave orders, Izzy became distracted by Theo drawing an _iratze_ on his stomach and then bending over perfectly as he stretched,

"I' sorry, I didn't hear that; I got, erm, distracted," Izzy stuttered,

"Learn to multitask, Isabelle," Magnus tutted as he grabbed her arm and pulled her along, "you're with me."

As they walked, Izzy watched Magnus turn around and blow a kiss at Alec who was about to catch it, but Jace did instead, prompting Alec to call him a dickhead. Whenever Izzy had blown a kiss to Simon, he never caught them; he'd blow one back and say he had already caught too many kiss to store them. She wished Simon could be with her, but they had been spending so much time together that she had insisted on him going on a holiday with his mates. She was now slightly regretting it.

"Earth to Isabelle Lightwood," Magnus tapped her head,

"Sorry, I was daydreaming," she said as she realized that they were on a whole other street.

Magnus chuckled, but was stopped by four forsaken creeping towards them. Izzy had taken down a dozen forsaken before and smirked with confidence as her whip slithered down her arm and into her hand. But her confidence was short lived when five Acanthus demons (large slender demons with deadly thorn covering their humanlike bodies) appeared along with a handful of more forsaken. She grabbed her seraph blade and prayed that she'd at least get a pain au chocolat with hot chocolate after this.

"We half the load. I take three of the prickly bastards down in a couple of minutes as well as some forsaken and we get back in time for breakfast," she spoke unknowingly fast as she swirled the blade in her hand.

She turned briefly to see Magnus conjure up balls of blue sparks in his hands and begin to sing a song in French. When she turned back, a thorn from one of the demons was flying straight for her, but she immediately ducked in time and as she did, she flung her whip towards them which coiled around one of the demons' legs and she pulled it in towards her, allowing it to slide between her legs and stabbed it in the chest. While the demon reduced to smoke, Izzy swiftly moved on to dealing with two more demons and some forsaken. As she fought, she constantly reminded herself not to let the poisonous thorns of the Acanthus demons to touch her which gave her an idea. She defended herself against one of the demons, making sure to get it in a specific place. Soon she spotted two forsaken running towards her from behind and when they pounced, she instantaneously slid to the left, leaving the forsaken to fall into the Acanthus demons' thorns. A foul brown smoke rose from the forsaken as the poison devoured them and the Acanthus demon made a high pitched screech. Izzy beheaded the demon and forsaken. However, her plan hadn't gone accordingly. A large dark shadow descended over her and when she slowly turned around, she was faced with two Acanthus demons that were much larger than the last ones and snarled with brown poison dripping from their ash grey thorns. Izzy jumped back and raised her seraph blade while the demons raised their arms. Suddenly, the towering thorn bodies made high pitched screeches as they trembled before evaporating. Left behind and stained with their brown blood were the two daggers that Magnus had brought with him. He stood on top of a truck with dead forsaken and the smoke of fallen demons surrounding him and he summoned the daggers back into his hands with smirk.

"You're welcome," he said after jumping off the truck,

"How much magic did it take to get those daggers in the dead centre of their chests?" Izzy asked as she scanned her surroundings,

"None. It was all down to training and Alexander promising to do a lap dance if I got twenty bull's-eyes in a row,"

"Tell me you recorded that,"

"Next time I will."

They walked until they found a street where the outer brick walls of a bakery had a long smear of blood along it. When they looked in the direction of where the smear was leading to, they ended up facing the Eiffel Tower. Fog was beginning to set all over Paris, but the fog around the tower was tainted with red.

"The energy coming from that direction feels… like hell," Magnus said,

"Whatever it is, we're not prepared for it," Jace appeared behind them with Alec, Theo and Esme,

"Then we go back to the Institute, call for reinforcements and investigate the tower at night," Esme sounded deadly serious,

"So," Jace sounded as serious as Esme with just one word, "will this count as sightseeing?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Will dad and papa come back?" Max asked as he looked up at Clary.

Clary stopped cleaning up and looked at him and Rafael. They both had faces filled with fear, worry and uneasiness which made Clary want to hold them and promise them that everything was going to be okay. But she couldn't make that promise. She had learnt that things can easily go wrong when you're a Shadowhunter and to always make sure you're prepared for the worst- even though you never will be. Alec was one of the best Shadowhunters she had ever met, but as she told the boys that he'd be fine, she remembered when Abbadon almost killed him. It was easier to tell them that Magnus would be okay as he was immortal and the worst Clary had ever seen him was when he was drained of energy.

"So, they will come back?" Max asked as he got off the chair and held Clary's hand,

"They'll come back," Clary smiled, "now let's get you to bed."

After tucking Max and Rafael in and making sure that Max had his teddy bear, Clary found herself a room and decided that she deserved a hot bubble bath. As she got it, she thought of Jace, closed her eyes and begged that he'd come back safe and sound. They had been spending more time together as a normal couple doing normal couple things like going out to movies, eating at restaurants and staying in to watch movies in bed, but now and again, they would go out for a romantic walk and then end up having to sort out mischievous vampires or out of control demons. While she remembered some of their dates she found herself drifting slowly off to sleep.

She dreamt of being in a field of black grass, trees with no sign of life in them and a sky of infinite darkness with no star in it. Her breaths were heavy as she walked through the field barefoot with the sharp grass staining her porcelain feet black. There was no wind and the atmosphere was permeated with a bitter smell and a bone chilling cold. She soon came close to a white flower that danced above the grass under a stream of light and despite its dainty stem, the flower held itself up with confidence. When Clary approached it, she felt its warmth cure her goosebumps and fill her with happiness, even though there was still darkness around her. She sat on the ground and watched the flower, but soon the black poison from the grass snaked up the once vibrant green stem and ravaged the pure white petals. Tears fell down her cheek as she watched the petals join the surrounding trees in death, the warmth she once felt disappeared and the light faded.

Clary woke up with her bottom lip in the slowly turning cold water and there was only a small cluster of bubbles left in the corner of the bath. Once she got out of the bath, she dried her hair with a towel and changed into a top and pyjama shorts she found in the wardrobe. The depressing, dark and disheartening dream stuck in her mind as she sat on the bed and thought of its meaning; all dreams meant something when it came to her. As she carried on wondering about it, she strolled to the bedroom Rafael and Max were sleeping in…to find empty beds.

Max was feeling sleepy when he got into bed, but when Clary left, a rush of energy went through his body so he decided to jump on the bed for a good five minutes. But that didn't work. Rafael also was wide awake and searching the bookshelf to see if there was anything appropriate for him to read.

"Jump on the bed, it fun," Max giggled as she sat on the bed,

"No, I want to read," Rafael replied,

"Why do people read?"

"To learn. There are books on everything. I once read a book about space,"

"What's space like?"

"It's the colour of the sky at night, but has lots of planets and galaxies and universes."

Rafael ended up telling Max everything he knew about space and occasionally had to explain a handful of words as well. Max loved it when Rafael agreed to teach him. Last time, Rafael taught him about musical instruments, how they can all make different sounds and how people can make the sounds of instruments with their own voices, prompting Max to attempt to sound like a piano and a guitar. As Rafael talked, Max heard a familiar voice call his name from the window. He instantly got up from the bed and ran to the window to see Alec standing on the ground outside with a large bag. Max didn't know if the window could open, but when he placed his hands on the glass and willed the window to disappear, the glass vanished and the cool morning breeze hit his face.

"Rafe, it's dad," Max waved at Alec,

"Come down and I'll take you out for breakfast," Alec smiled,

"But we just ate,"

"But I know you'd like some hot chocolate."

Max nodded and put his shoes on, but Rafael wasn't as enthusiastic. He got off the bed and looked out the window down at Alec waiting for him. Max didn't understand why he wasn't excited; Alec was, he was alive, had a bag most likely full of presents and was going to take them out for hot chocolate.

Max gave Rafael his shoes and looked at him, "Let's go,"

"I'm not sure, what about aunty Clary?" Rafael said,

"We leave a note."

Max could see the hesitation in Rafael's face, so he got a piece of toilet paper, took a pen from his pocket and wrote a note to Clary saying that they had gone out for hot choc with Alec. Once he showed the note to Rafael, he seemed convinced, put on his shoes and went outside to Alec with Max. They ran outside to find Alec standing by the gate.

"Where are we going?" Rafael asked as he grabbed Alec's hand,

"We'll get hot chocolate and then go anywhere you'd like," Alec smiled.

As Max held Alec's hand, he began to feel strange. The hand he held didn't feel as soft and warm as it usually did; it was slightly cold and damp, but it could've easily been because he had just fought a bunch of demons. They walked far away from the Institute until they reached a small café that had the closed sign showing, but Alec simply walked in. There was a stench in the café that made Max cover his nose, but Alec seemed fine with it and walked them past the counter and to the basement where there was something large and cube shaped under a black cover and were two strangers sitting on top of a counter. The strangers looked at Max as if he were food with their pupils dilating and licking their lips.

"Where's the hot choc?" Max's voice wobbled as he let go of Alec's hand and moved away from him.

The strangers got up to pull the cloth and reveal a large metal cage with the bars glowing deadly raging red. Alec picked up Rafael and threw him in the cage and when Rafael tried to get out, the bars shocked him and he cried in pain as he fell to the floor. Max became sure that whoever it was that brought him here, it wasn't his dad. The three strangers launched at Max and in fear he raised up his arms to protect himself. By doing so, he had created a protective wall which made the strangers fall to the ground, but they got straight back up. Max tried to keep the wall up as long as possible as he scuttled up the stairs and the strangers ran after him, but he soon found himself losing energy and he tripped over before he could reach the door. The strangers grabbed him and threw him into the cage alongside Rafael.

"Rafe?" Max sat by Rafael who still hadn't got up from the floor,

"It hurts," Rafael cried,

"I want dad and papa."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Clary found herself being so close to ripping her hair out, until she spotted a piece of toilet paper on the bed with messy handwriting on it.

 _Dad take us for hot choc. Bac soon_

 _Max xx_

The note only calmed Clary's mind a little as she didn't think that Alec would come back without letting Clary know he was there and if he had come back, where were the others? She felt a cool breeze flood into the room and while she went to close the window, she realized there was no window. As she thought of ways to fix it, she heard the door open and ran to it with hopes that she would see Alec holding the hands of his two sons. She knew the boys would be hyper after having hot chocolate and was prepared to take them into a room and have them colour in one of her drawings. She thought about creating a drawing full of birds as Max loved chasing them and then maybe a drawing of the beautiful Paris architecture for Rafael.

"Clary?" Jace called and his voice echoed around the Institute.

Clary came to the door to see Jace with slashes in his sleeves and blood stains on his face and even in his hair. Usually when he came back from business, Jace would be completely ready to relax, put his weapons away and then lie on the couch and let all the dirt on his body stain it. However, there was concentration still lingering on his face and he still clutched his seraph blade. He put away the blade, wrapped his arms around Clary and kissed her cheek softly. His lips were freezing cold, sending a tingle through her face, but his body was warm which made her want to never leave his arms.

"I need to have a shower; bloody demon thought it would be fun to die on top of me and get blood in my hair," Jace said,

"Yeah, you stink," Clary giggled,

"I love you too."

The door opened again and this time, Magnus entered while talking to Esme and Theo in French with Isabelle and Alec following them. Clary waited for Rafael and Max to come rushing in in hysterics, instead the door closed. Panic started to grow along with a knot in her throat as she looked behind Alec just to check that the boys weren't hiding. Her anxious face was noticed by everyone else who watched her frantically open the door, check outside and then look around inside again.

"Clary?" Jace sounded concerned.

Clary was left speechless because if she opened her mouth, she feared she'd be sick, so she simply gave Alec the note that Max had left her. It hurt her to witness Alec's face convulse from a relaxed one into one have fear, rage and worry.

"I left them in bed and took a bath and when I checked on them, they were gone," she stepped far away from Alec,

"How could they just be gone? They have to be somewhere, Clary, so where are they?" Alec tried not to raise his voice,

"I don't know,"

"We trusted you _again_! You're absolutely useless!"

Clary felt a tear crawl out of her eye. She cared about Max and Rafael too, and just knowing that it was her fault that they were now lost again made her feel like sitting in a dark corner and never leaving it. Jace put his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.

"This wasn't her fault; it's not like last time. For some reason, Max and Rafael believes that _you_ came here to take them to get hot chocolate and there's only one explanation," Jace kissed Clary's head,

"Eidolon demons," Magnus sighed as he sat on the steps,

"I'm really really sorry," Clary cried as she thought of the danger that the boys were in,

"Like Jace said, it's not your fault," Magnus put his head in his hands.

Alec stood in front of him, took his hands and kissed them softly as he looked into his eyes. It was obvious that both of them wanted to cry, but they had decided to stay strong in that one look.

Magnus got up, "We'll all split up to look for them. Esme, you stay here and get back up to sort out the demon problem, but right now, looking for my boys is more important,"

"Of course Magnus. Theo knows Paris better than the back of his hand, he'll help you look," Esme replied before telling Theo what to do in French,

"Merci," Alec smiled.

Clary still felt useless. Paris was a massive city and the boys could've even been taken to a whole other city by now, if only there was a way to find them without having to search the whole of Paris. By the time they reached them, it could've been too late. They needed some sort of locator.

"Alec, Jace, could you use you parabatai rune and-" Clary was cut off by Jace instantly going up to Alec and clutching his hands.

Alec was on the edge of complete breakdown. What parent loses his children twice in basically one day? He was surprised that he didn't think of locating them with Jace and was starting to regret calling Clary useless. He took a picture of Rafael and Max out of his pocket- which he always brought with him- and gave it to Jace.

"Think of them," Alec instructed as they enclosed the picture in their hands.

It took Alec a while until he could feel them, most likely because of all the grief and doubt clouding his mind, but once he started to focus, his mind started to create a scene. He saw the fog encircling the Eiffel Tower, and then he went down a road east from it where there was a café with deep red curtains and a door clearly displaying the closed sign. The café had the words pécheresse douce in white swirled writing on a red background. In the basement of the café, in a cage, were his two innocent sons. Max was crying in the corner while Rafael was singing with Max in his arms. Alec had to let go of Jace's hand as the image of them made his stomach churn and his heart break into pieces.

In silence Alec went back to Magnus and wept into his chest. He couldn't let Magnus see what he saw; it would completely destroy him and Alec wasn't prepared to see that.

"We know where they are," Jace's voice wobbled.

The images of Rafael and Max began to violate his mind which only made Alec cry even more, until the point where he had to go to bathroom and sit on the edge of the bath as he cried. He wasn't allowing anyone, especially not Esme and Theo, to witness him cry. He had called Clary useless, but in truth, it was him that was the most useless of all; he had lost his children and all he could do at this moment was sit there and cry as he begged the angel to bring them back to him. The worst scenario of what could happen to them darted through his head which made him fall to the cold bathroom floor and break down. The only time he had ever cried like this was when he lost his own brother. He couldn't go through that again. As he allowed himself to slowly fall apart, he felt sturdy hands grace his shoulders and a warmth occurred by his side.

"It will all be okay," Isabelle assured him as she pulled him into her, "I promise."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Let us go!" Rafael cried.

Thanks to Rafael's knowledge, they had worked out that what had lured them to their capture was an Eidolon demon and they were now in a cage asking three of them to let them go. Max had finally given up on what felt like an hour of crying and decided to just sit in the middle of the cage, whereas Rafael was determined to get out, but no matter what he did or said, the three demons only snarled in reply. Max knew that they'd be found eventually, it was just a case of their parents finding them in time before things got any worse. It was like playing the most dangerous game of hide and seek, but this time, Max was happy to be found. The basement they were in still had the slight scent of sulphur, the walls were white but stained with brown and red, the metal counters had what looked like spell books on them, there was a black door with a 'DO NOT ENTER' sign on it and Max could see in one of the many cupboards that there was a box saying 'hot chocolate'.

"Papa and dad will come." Max said patiently,

"How do you know?" Rafael turned to him, "what if they never find us? I don't want to be alone again,"

"You're not alone; you have me!"

The happiness that still lingered in Max despite being held prisoner was the only thing stopping Rafael from bursting into tears. He admired the constant positive spirit his brother possessed, but mind haunting events stopped him from having that much hope. The young Shadowhunter could picture every possible thing that could happen to them- being sold, homelessness, death- but not being found. As he thought to himself, Max shuffled next to him and looked up to him with the eyes of a puppy.

"Is this my fault?" Max asked with a soft voice.

As a joke, Rafael would usually say yes to such a question, but this was no laughing matter. Max's face reminded him that he wasn't the only one who had the risk of losing another set of parents which made him continue to plead to be let out. As he did so, one of the demons became fed up of listening to Rafael and went into the room behind the 'DO NOT ENTER' door. Rafael went quiet when he saw a faint red fog slowly seep out of the room with the sulphuric smell creeping in with it. He moved around the cage and strained his neck to attempt to see what was in the room and all his movement paid off when he spotted what he recognised to be a forsaken, but the demon in Alec's form closed and locked the door with a grin before turning into a blonde man with a red sweater.

"We're never leaving," Rafael said,

"Maybe if you say 'please'," Max suggested,

"I shouldn't have to," Rafael started to get frustrated,

"Dad says to always say it, so do as he says,"

"Let us go _please_ ," Rafael asked politely this time.

The demons snarled and ghoulishly howled with laughter, giving Rafael his answer: they weren't leaving the cage or the basement for a long while. As he sat next to Max, his mind started to tick. Eidolon demons would rarely work without some sort of master, they had put them in a cage instead of killing them straight away and they were just standing there with blank faces as if they were waiting for someone.

"You need us," Rafael realized, "you're under the control of someone- most likely a warlock, porque eres demasiado estúpido!"

Though he was speaking Spanish, the demons seemed to know that he was insulting them and they snarled as they began to come closer to the cage. However they were stopped by a raspy French female voice saying, "What a clever boy."

Both Rafael and Max stood to attention and looked at the stairs to see a woman strut down them. She wore black leather boots with heels that could easily pass as stilts, fishnet tights, black high waisted shorts and a black leather jacket with golden spikes on the back, shoulders and cuffs. Her hair was a prominent orange and her black lips matched the darkness that was evident in her eyes. Max knew a warlock when he saw one; it was clear in the unnatural colour of her hair, yet it looked like it belonged and when he looked closer, he realized that her skin was a pale green. He felt an energy full of evil, pain and despair radiate off of the woman, making him grasp Rafael's hand and hide slightly behind him. A warlock wouldn't hurt another warlock would they?

"What is a warlock doing with a nephilim child?" the woman knelt down next to the cage and glared at Rafael,

"We're brothers and we'd like to leave please," Rafael said as he tried to keep his voice stable,

"I wasn't talking to you; I was talking to the blue one."

Her expression was one that didn't hold any emotion which only frightened Max even more. The only time it changed was when she looked at Rafael and her face morphed into one of disgust. He didn't know where from, but Max soon found courage to talk and stepped out from behind Rafael.

"Can we leave please?" he asked innocently,

"No, you see, I need Magnus Bane and you're the only way I'm going to get him," she said monotonously,

"What do you need him for?" Rafael asked,

"I don't answer to you,"

"What do you need him for?" Max repeated,

"Have you ever met your grandparents on his side?" she grinned sinisterly.

Max looked back at Rafael and then shook his head.

"Well, hopefully you will, even if it does cost daddy's life."

The woman began to walk away as she cackled, but her last words made Max angry and he reached out in her direction. He concentrated on her, willing for her to come back and explain what her plan was and soon she slowly began to be pulled closer against her will. Max usually felt weak if he did this for longer than a couple of seconds, but this time, he felt slightly more powerful and blue started to surround his hands. Rafael looked at Max with astonishment as he grinned slightly with pride. The woman was so close to touching the deadly red bars of the cage, so Max let her go out of the kindness of his heart. With his great feeling of power, he became more serious.

"What are you going to do with my Papa?" he asked with what he thought was a stern voice,

The woman made her twisted laugh, "your 'Papa' is going to help create a world where powerless Shadowhunters beg us Downworlders for mercy, so don't get used to your _adopted_ brother,"

"People like you always get killed so keep dreaming," Rafael threatened.

In anger and partly for her amusement, the women pulled Rafael into the bars and roared with laughter as he cried in pain. Max knew he didn't have enough strength to pull Rafael away from her, but the cage began to shake the longer she held him to the bars. He summoned the energy to create a ball of blue fire and when he threw it between the bars, it hit the woman in the chest and she fell to the ground at the same time as Rafael. Max shook him frantically and said his name repeatedly, but he didn't move or say a word.

"Please, Rafe, please get up," Max felt tears fill his eyes.

He put his hand on his face, hoping his touch would wake him. Rafael's skin was still hot from the charge of the bars that ran through him and though his body began to shake slightly, he remained unconscious. As he begged for him to wake up, Max's fingertips glowed with blue and he was able to feel the amount of pain his brother was in as well as how distressed he felt. This made Max cry even more as he wished he could help him and he shared his sorrow. As he felt his Rafael's feelings flow into him, he began to hear Rafael's trembling voice clearly tell him that he wanted to go home, but when he looked at the demons and the woman who had now gotten up, he noticed that he was the only one that could hear it. Soon, a groan came from Rafael and he pulled himself up. Max hugged him with relief and then turned to the woman.

"You're mean!" he exclaimed,

"You're…strange," she replied.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"I feel horrible," Clary sighed,

"This isn't your fault," Jace took her hand.

They had been walking in a straight line for at least an hour. Paris had started to get so busy that Clary and Jace were constantly being split up by strangers and the amount of people made Clary worry that Max and Rafael had gone past them, but she just couldn't see them through the sea of people. They had gone into every shop that could possibly sell hot chocolate and then scanned the whole place for the two missing boys. But they remained just that- missing. They had made sure to not be seen by anyone in case things turned ugly, but at this rate, Clary was afraid that she'd have to return to Magnus empty handed when she had promised to bring his children back. Walking in a straight line was starting to make Clary go mad and instead of simply crossing the road, she grabbed Jace's sleeve and they turned to walk onto a different street.

"I thought the deal was to keep going straight," Jace complained,

"I'm sure it won't hurt anybody if we take a detour," Clary replied.

After a couple of steps down the street, Jace stopped. His whole body froze as he sniffed the air like a bloodhound. Clary tried to smell what he did, but it took a bit longer to detect the slightest hint of sulphur that lingered in the air and once she got one whiff, the smell became more prominent. Jace slid out his blade and slowly stalked the street with his arm in front of Clary to protect her from whatever was causing the smell. It was endearing and heart-warming that he'd always put himself in front of her, which Clary only allowed because he didn't want to damage his ego. They reached the only closed café in the whole of France where the smell grew in intensity. However, the café didn't look as if it had been closed properly; the tables were wonky, the chairs looked as if they were waiting for their occupiers to return, there were half full mugs and half eaten food and there was even a bag left under a chair. The place certainly didn't scream welcome; all the more reason to check inside. Jace was about to open the door, but Clary put her hand on his shoulder.

"Ladies first," She chimed and Jace obliged.

She slowly pushed open the door and let her seraph blade lead the way. She could feel Jace right behind her like a protective shadow as they crept through the eerie café. Towards the back and behind the counter, she noticed an ajar metal door, but before she could advance towards it, a woman with long brown hair and tanned skin opened the door and walked up to her. The woman didn't look scared, worried or even pleased to see them like an owner of this particular café would be; instead she seemed emotionless.

"Parlez-vous anglais?" Clary asked as best as she could.

The woman was clearly not in the mood for talking and shook her head. Clary began to notice how she was able to see her and Jace, how she moved inhumanly and seemed what she could only describe as off. When it clicked that it was an Eidolon demon in front of her, she raised her weapon, but the demon quickly grabbed her by the throat and threw her into the side wall, leaving Clary to fall into two wooden tables and chairs. Before Jace could run to her, Clary gave him the thumbs up despite the throbbing pain that surged through her arm and her side. _The only reason why a demon would attack us up here, is if there's something at the back that needs protecting,_ she told herself as another demon ran towards Jace.

"Keep them busy," she instructed as she got up,

"Nah, I'll just let them run free," Jace commented,

"Well, if you really want to make them like free range chickens."

Clary rushed through the metal door to find a room full of shelves of cleaning products and stairs leading downwards. She looked at the cleaning liquids until she saw one marked 'skin burning' and carefully poured it into a spray bottle before heading downstairs.

"Ugh what a putrid surprise," a woman scoffed.

Clary had to stop in her tracks as a wall of the pungent sulphur scent hit her. The all in black woman stood in front of a large cube covered in fabric and her hair was a deep dark red. She possessed the look of an evil character from one of Simon's manga books and she made Clary feel as if she was helpless prey.

"Where are Max and Rafael?" Clary asked with her blade held high,

The woman laughed, "As you Americans would say, finder's keepers."

The woman clicked her fingers, prompting another demon in the form of a large man to jump at Clary. This time, she swiftly moved to the side, sprayed the chemicals in its face and smiled when it screeched in pain, before hook kicking it in the back and striking it from behind. It made a final howl before it plummeted to the grounds and turned into a large puddle of black thick blood.

"Where are they, bitch?" Clary asked again,

"I moved them," the woman simply replied.

Clary would've bought this, however behind the fabric over the cube; she spotted something bright, round and blue, which soon revealed the silhouette of recognisable horns. She started towards the cube, but the woman raised her hand and Clary went flying back into the stairs. There was no choice for her, she either found and brought back Magnus and Alec's children or she kept searching until death. She took out her stele, drew a rune on her hands and raised t, allowing the swirls, lines and dots to slowly paralyze the woman so that Clary could lift her like a light statue and put her in the corner. Then, she lifted the fabric to see Max clapping next to Rafael.

"That was cool," Max cheered.

It filled Clary with such joy whenever she made Max clap and smile as he would make the room that little bit brighter.

"Don't touch the bars; they hurt," Rafael warned her.

There were red burns down the side of Rafael's face and arms as well as pain still lingering in his face and Max clutched his hand to stop him from crying. Clary stuck her stele into the blazing bars, making them disappear completely and reached out for the boys who ran into her arms. The feeling of them all snug in her arms triggered a tear to fall from her eye. She had finally found them.

But she soon heard a sigh come from behind her, "Reunited at last. Disgusting," the woman snarled as her hair turned flaming red and she pulled Clary back,

"Leave her alone," Rafael demanded.

But the woman wasn't going to take any orders and her grip on Clary's hair tightened. Clary kicked back into the woman's stomach, hoping that she would loosen her grip, but there was no luck and instead, the woman began to chant a spell which rendered Clary unable to breathe.

"Clary bear!" Max cried.

Quickly, Rafael grabbed Clary's seraph blade and dug it into the woman's leg while Max created a ball of blue fire and threw it at her as she winced in pain. The woman flew into the ceiling and crash landed by the stairs where Clary created handcuffs around her wrists with her stele. The warlock showed no signs of pain for her still slightly bleeding wound and glared at Rafael as if attempting to kill him with her mind, prompting Clary to stand in front of him.

"Good work boys," Clary smiled as she fixed her hair and then held her hands out.

Max and Rafael high-fived her before Jace walked down the stairs with his hair thin but still looking good. The pride on his face as he surveyed the scene made Clary chuckle to herself, but an animalistic noise that came from behind a door wiped the smile off of her face, especially when the stench of sulphur from the room grew stronger and seeped from the room entangled with tainted red midst. Rafael pulled Max with him behind Clary's back.

"What's in there?" Jace questioned,

"Why would I tell you," the warlock woman replied,

"Because I can divorce your head from your shoulders in one second."

Clary and the woman watched Jace as he played around with the blade to the point where he became very close to cutting his own hand. His emotionless face mimicked the woman's, which began to make Clary slightly worried that he would follow through with his threat.

"It's where I summon the demons I need," she confessed,

"Why do you summon so many demons?"

"Giving you the answer would be cheating."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Listen, Biscuit, if you don't get here in the next fifteen minutes with my sons, I will give you snakes for hair and turn your teeth as green as your eyes. Do you hear me, Clarissa Adele Fairchild?! I will make your life much worse than hell!" Magnus threatened over the phone.

Clary had messaged everyone telling them that she had found Rafael and Max and that they should meet her at the Paris Institute. But that was half an hour ago and though Magnus, Alec and Isabelle had returned, there was no sign of Clary, Jace or the boys. The concoction of worry, fear and dread made Magnus's stomach do somersaults and he couldn't even vaguely remember feeling this way about anything in the past. If the job of being a parent meant having regular moments of panic despite usually being very calm about everything else, then he most definitely deserved a pay rise. He had resorted to pacing the library to stop him from going mad with worry, but this only made Alec and Izzy feel even more irritated.

"Please sit down," Alec begged for the third time,

"Yeah, you're making me nervous," Isabelle commented,

"You should be nervous!" Magnus declared, "Your nephews- our sons- have been snatched from us like a man plucking candy from a baby. They could be starving to death, hurt or even made to join the circus,"

"There's worrying and there's plain ridiculous. Why would they be forced to join the circus?" Izzy asked,

"Unless you're an acrobat, the outfits are so hideous that it should count as torture."

Magnus continued to pace the library until the doors were opened and two giggling mischievous bundles of joy ran in. He instantly got to his knees and spread his arms out allowing Rafael and Max to tumble into him. As Max snuggled into Magnus's chest, Alec joined the giant hug with their arms creating a protective circle around their sons. Magnus didn't think he would ever let go; hours without them felt like days and he wasn't prepared to let them go just yet. When they finally broke the circle, Magnus noticed burns down Rafael's face and arm and quickly healed them.

"How did this happen, Rafe?" Alec asked,

"The woman put us in a cage and pulled me into the hot bars," Rafael sniffed as Magnus put his arms around him,

"What woman?"

It was then that the door opened again with Jace shoving a warlock woman into the room and on to her knees. Max grabbed onto Alec's hand at her entrance and the icy expression on the woman's face made Magnus feel uneasy.

"We decided to kill two birds with one stone," Clary said as she stood behind the woman, "it took a while, but she finally told us that her name is Ember and she's responsible for the demons around here."

Ember grinned sinisterly at Clary's words as if she was telling a vile joke. Rage flashed over Magnus and he became tempted to punch the twisted woman as hard as he could, but he couldn't do it in front of his boys. He slowly walked up to the kneeling woman and looked over her in hidden disgust. Only someone completely psychotic would merrily steal and harm two innocent children and Magnus had a feeling that her fun wasn't done.

"You're very lucky that _I_ have empathy," he snarled at her,

"Empathy is overrated," she replied,

"Would you like to explain why you kidnapped my sons?"

"Technically, I didn't do the kidnapping,"

Magnus sighed, "You're one of those. I'll rephrase the question, what do you want with them?"

Ember began to cackle like a demented witch and her hair turned as black as her nonexistent heart, making Max become even more terrified and hide behind Alec. It was the type of haunting laugh that would give you a headache after just one second of it, adding to the many things Magnus already detested about her.

"You really should invest in a new laugh," Magnus said, "and you haven't answered my question,"

"I don't need them, though the blue one may turn out useful after what I've witnessed," Ember said as she looked at Max with great curiosity, "but what I truly need is standing right in front of me, cliché I know, but true,"

"Well, you're not getting him," Alec insisted.

As Magnus walked back to stand by Alec, he saw Ember look at him as if he was some sort of prize to be won. He could only think of two reasons why she needed him: either she had a monumental and understandable love for him, or she craved his power for something that he knew he didn't want to be a part of. Alec was right; she wasn't getting him; not just because he was in a happy loving relationship, but because she most likely couldn't afford his services.

"Has Theo and Esme told you what to do with it?" Alec asked as he gritted his teeth,

"They want us to lock her downstairs for now," Clary replied,

"Throw away the key por favor," Rafael said as he yawned and snuggled up to Izzy.

While Rafael's words made everyone laugh, Ember was clearly not amused and her hair became red to replicate the rage in her face. As the laughter continued, she slyly created a red burning ball of fire behind her back and directed it towards Rafael with lightning speed. Fortunately, Magnus was faster, caught it and made the fire fizzle out in front of Ember with his cat-like eyes glowing and a grin on his face.

"Wait until I get my hands on you. Je vais te tuer, tu peu, gluant, répungnant-" Ember's threat was cut off by a wave of Magnus's hand rendering her unable to make a sound,

"Arrêtez. You're starting to bore me," he sighed and signalled for Clary and Jace to take her downstairs.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Trying to get information out of Ember was the equivalent of attempting to get blood from a stone; she'd either stare at them with a blank look or say that she wasn't saying a thing. Clary seemed willing to be even more patient; however Jace had already given up on bargaining with her. She just sat there, chained up with a snarling grin and a face that aggravated Jace to the point where he couldn't look at her anymore. Behind him and Clary, by the closed cell door was a stand with three pure silver blades that had runes covering them. A part of Jace didn't want to use one- especially not in front of Clary- but they needed information other than her name or the whole of Paris would end up as a doomed city of demons.

"Oh, now are you sure you want to do that?" Ember smirked as she watched Jace twirl the blade in his hands,

"Well, if you're not going to cooperate," he raised the blade in front of her,

"Wait, Jace, we can't kill her," Clary insisted,

"I'm not going to kill her; I'm just going to use another approach."

Jace pushed Ember against the cold stone wall before forcing her left sleeve up and placing the blade dangerously close to her skin. Most likely due to having all the characteristics of a psychopath, Ember's eerie expression remained as it was, but with an added hint of amusement.

"If there's anything you can tell us, tell us now," Clary spoke with pity in her voice,

"When I get out of here, you're going to regret not killing me," Ember laughed.

Patience was now nonexistent. Jace exhaled heavily as he pushed the engraved metal blade against Ember's skin, held it there until he could hear her pain and then took it off to see the burns that remained. How she could laugh once the blade was removed and through the agony made his skin crawl like scuttling bullet ants. Clary grabbed his arm as Ember carried on cackling and shook her head to tell them that she wasn't giving up any little hint of her plans. Though it was his job, after everything, Jace hated having to use pain as a way of interrogation, but Ember obviously wasn't backing down and neither was he. With a more than steady hand, he edged the blade close to her wrist and looked her in the eyes with a face as unsympathetic as hers.

"Have I missed the fun part?" Magnus chimed sinisterly as he walked into the cell.

Jace was slightly thankful for Magnus's interruption and he watched Ember's eyes light up slightly and her evil grin grow once she noticed him. He moved out of the way and put the blade back onto the stand.

"Has she told you anything?" Magnus asked,

"Nope, not even her age," Clary sighed,

"Well, no self-respecting warlock would reveal that. Not even Tessa Gray would reveal that."

There was a short laugh that came from Ember's lowered head which slowly rose when Magnus knelt in front of her. The way she tilted her head to the side with her eyes securely locked on him confirmed Jace's theory that whatever she was sinisterly scheming, it involved Magnus Bane. He asked her the exact same questions Jace and Clary had already asked and expectedly got the exact same answers.

"Thanks to Shadowhunters, I have more patience than I used to, but you're starting to really test it," Magnus said as he stood up and leant against the wall,

"Your son, what's his name?" Ember questioned,

"No no no no no, I do the interrogating here, stick to your role,"

"You didn't see what I saw, Bane. Maybe he would enjoy some alone time with his father."

Magnus's eyebrows narrowed as he moved closer to her and studied her face as much as she studied his. The silence highlighted the drops of water from the ceiling of the cell and grew longer with Magnus remaining in front of Ember. Soon Ember bit her lip and a sinful smirk poisoned her face as Magnus got up.

"Well, that was très insightful, but if you'd excuse me, I have something worthwhile to do," Magnus said as he buttoned up his blazer.

He made his way for the door, but turned around to throw a sling of red around Ember's neck and watch her gasp for breath and wince in pain. When he was satisfied, he released her throat and threw blazing red energy at her, making her crash into the wall to the point where cracks started to form and she fell unconscious.

"Don't mess with my family," Magnus tutted, "come with me blonde and biscuit."

Without saying a word, Magnus speedily led Clary and Jace to the dining room where Theo and Esme were holding a meeting. With a wave of his hands, the door flew open, revealing a full table of shocked Shadowhunters. The dining room was an elegant affair with scarlet velvet curtains being restrained by golden rope to allow the little light to flow through the antique windows, the ceiling was adorned with golden runes encircling the angel Raziel on a cream background, though the walls were decorated, they became overpowered by the portraits and landscapes that hung on them and unlit candles that were almost out of wax rimmed the room. But the all black Shadowhunters that judged them as they walked to the head of the table where Esme stood dimmed the otherwise spellbinding room.

"What are you doing in here?" a lady boomed,

"Your job," Magnus replied, "Ember plans on opening the portal to hell and unleashing its chaos on the world,"

"How do you know this?" Theo asked,

"I'm a very convincing man and since when did you speak understandable English?"

Theo showed off his rune that allowed him to speak all languages, "what did she say?"

"That my son will meet his father and as his father is a demon," Magnus didn't complete the sentence as he hoped that everyone else would reach the same page as him.

Unfortunately it seemed that the only people on his wavelength were Clary, Jace and Esme, while the table of stern Shadowhunters and Theo needed much more convincing. He could do nothing but roll his eyes and shake his head. After everything he had done to aid Shadowhunters- _free of charge_ \- he expected to have earned their trust by now.

"That obviously suggests that she's going to bring a demon to Paris," Clary said with enough sass to make Magnus proud,

"Thank you. You can always trust a biscuit to understand," Magnus high-fived her, but Theo still wasn't convinced,

"In the basement of the café where we apprehended her, there was a portal and Eidolon demons as well as others were swarming out of it like hornets. Is that enough valid evidence for you, or would you like me to do a sketch of the scene from memory?" Jace stood toe to toe with Theo.

Of course Theo had something to retaliate with, but when his mouth opened, Magnus shook his head with Esme grinning when he backed down.

"You heard Magnus. We need to find this portal, close it, get rid of the demons and then get rid of her," Esme gave her orders, "You will answer to me, Theo, Clary, Jace, the Lightwoods _and_ Magnus. You have your orders, dismissed."

As everyone left the dining room, Magnus replayed what Ember had said to him. What Max had done made Ember very interested in him, which no doubt put him in just as much danger as Magnus. It was obvious that Ember wanted him to create the portal directly to the inner sanctum of hell as she wasn't powerful enough, but the fact that she was confident that she would get him to do it made him sick to him stomach. For someone to have that much faith in something so twisted, meant that they would do anything to make it happen and that was what scared him the most.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"We will try to stay here this time," Max giggled as he sat on the bed,

Clary had given herself the seemingly impossible task of looking after Rafael and Max while the others went to the meeting with Esme. The idea of demons threatening such a beautiful city terrified her, but she had to put on a brave face full of smiles for her favourite boys. She had played stuck-in-the-mud with them which required great use of the stamina rune and then they had a game of monopoly where Rafael became ruthless and was scarily good at it, while Max just enjoyed creating the sound effects for his small silver car whenever he moved it around the board. After all of that and more, Clary thought it was only just that she had a little rest. She somehow got the boys to agree that they'd either have a nap or read quietly so she could catch up on sadly missed sleep.

"It's very dangerous, so you have to stay on this floor," she stressed,

Max nodded, "I don't want to go near the witch,"

"I think her name is Ember," Rafael laughed as he chose a book.

Clary could only reassure the boys and her herself repeatedly that Ember wouldn't lay a finger on them. Just thinking about Ember triggered rage to dart through her body like hot bullets; it sickened her that anyone would want to kidnap two innocent children, unleash hell on Earth and be so confident that their plan would work. She soon recalled Ember having an interest in Max. It made sense that she was interested in Magnus; he was _the_ most powerful warlock, but having an interest in a young warlock boy was worrying.

"Max, did anything out of the ordinary happen when you were in the cage?" she asked as she sat next to him,

He looked up at her with a perplexed face, "That was a big word,"

"Did anything weird happen?" Rafael translated.

In silence, Max climbed onto Clary's lap, looked down at his hands as if they were covered in something fascinating and began to fiddle with the bottom of his top. To assure him that it was okay to tell her, Clary held his hands and kissed the top of his head.

"I show you," Max said as he shuffled around and placed his hands on either side of her face.

A quick surge of energy went through Clay's brain, her vision became full of blue light and swiftly instead of seeing the bedroom, she began to witness the events that happened in the basement of the café as if she was a helpless bystander. Seeing what Ember had done made her bite her tongue so she didn't swear in front of the boys. She was eager to get up and happily smash the witch's head against the wall repeatedly, but the faint blue light that surrounded the scene reminded her that she couldn't do anything. The scene zoomed in on Max in the cage as if Clary was on the other side of the bars and she then saw why there was so much interest in him. There was another flash of blue before Clary's sight was back to normal and she looked down at Max.

"You heard his thoughts," Clary gasped,

Rafael nodded, "He felt what I was feeling as well."

With an adorable little groan, Max curled up into a ball in Clary's arms like a kitten and he made a face as if he had something to be ashamed of. Clary knew that he would feel confused about himself as it was the first time it occurred. She gently took Max's hand, placed it on her cheek and concentrated on all the countries she wanted to visit before she became an official adult. It took Max a short while to realize what she wanted him to do, but soon his hand glowed bright blue along with his eyes and he began to giggle.

"Pigs don't swim in the sea," he smiled,

"In the Bahamas they do," Clary replied,

"And what's a pyramid?"

Max carried on giggling when Clary noticed that he had taken his hands away from her face and had them on his lap, his eyes remained bright blue but his hands were no longer glowing and he continued to say what Clary was thinking as if he were the narrator of her life.

"That's so cool," Rafael said,

"I stop now," Max let his eyes go back to their natural state.

Clary ended up staring at Max with amazement. She thought she had seen everything she possibly could when it came to the shadow world, but even Magnus had to chant a quick spell before being able to read someone's mind. The cogs in her brain began to spin until it all made sense to her why Ember enquired about him as in her twisted plan, it would be useful to have someone who could read the minds of her enemies. Her mind started to go into overdrive as she came up with all the horrible things Ember could possibly do if her plan succeeded and she almost forgot that the boys were there.

"Aunty Clary?" Rafael looked at her,

Clary snapped out of her trance, "Right, you boys read while I take a nap."

When she got up, Max jumped from his bed to Rafael's, curled up into a ball next to him and looked up at him with sparkling eyes. Before opening the book, Rafael showed Max the pictures on the back and front covers and helped him understand what they were. Clary couldn't help but hope that her children would be exactly the same, but she and Jace rarely talked about the possibility of children; they wanted to have as many adventures together before they even consider starting a family, but Clary was beginning to think that maybe they had gone on as many adventures as they possibly could. She curled herself up in the arm chair as she listened to Rafael reading and Max giggling at the illustrations.

"If you need me, wake me up," she yawned as her eyes closed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

It's hard to find a comfortable position to sit in when you're chained up by your wrists and ankles, but after a lot of shuffling around, Ember managed to find a way. The Paris Institute dungeons were almost too familiar to her; when she was young, she'd always cause trouble, but her crimes were never too serious so she would be held down there for only a couple of hours. She was so used to being dumped in the cells that the slimy stone walls, thick choking air and dingy smell didn't bother her. Throughout her questioning and having guards placed in front of her cell, she had been counting down and there was only one minute to go.

It was six months ago when she began practicing how to summon all sorts of demons. Eidolon demons would follow her around like sheep without her even having to ask, but other demons were harder to control. Within five long months, she was able to make all demons that she summoned obedient and could create portals to other dimensions without having to break a sweat, however opening the door to the underworld was impossible for her. She had even asked another warlock called Fraco to attempt to open the door, but his only outcome was failure. She had come to the conclusion that she needed a warlock with the blood of a prince and who had more than enough magic to open the last portal that was required. Convincing him was the problem.

She soon reached the thirty second mark in her countdown and began chanting a spell quietly with her head lowered. It took more energy to create the spell due to being in such an angelic place, but in ten seconds, she was finished.

"May I have something to drink?" she asked as she stood up,

"What's the magic word?" the small but heavily built guard laughed,

"I think you'll find I'm the one with the magic," Ember replied,

"Yet, you're trapped in there," the other tall guard turned his back to her.

It took a lot of self-control to not reach through the cells bars and use her own magic words to rip their heads from their necks.

"Time's up," she grinned as a portal emerged in front of her.

As Fraco entered the cell through the portal, his gills on his neck began to pulse, he brushed down his sharp suit and ran his hands through his white hair. Following him were two acanthus demons and two famith demons that made the once big cell feel quite compact. With a snap of Ember's fingers, one of the acanthus demons slid its prickly arms through the bars of the cell and sunk its poisonous thorns into the guards' necks.

"I don't remember requesting this many demons," Ember sighed,

"Precaution, my darling," Fraco replied, "Which one of the boys am I taking?"

"Both if you must, but the blue one would be preferred," Ember smiled, "now, let's get out of here."

A famith demon used its hands with canine crammed mouths to free Ember from the chains and Fraco made the bars melt, making escaping just that bit easier. As they made their way up the steps of the dungeons, the demons made quick work of the three guards in their way so that Ember only had to worry about walking up them in very high heels.

"We take the boy, get rid of anything in our path and go back to the lair. The front door would be great, but I doubt that will work. Oh and try to be silent," Ember instructed before translating her orders into chthonian.

Her hair became a vivid strong blue as they strolled through the halls of the institute. In the corner of her eye, she could see Fraco gazing at the art on the walls and the intricate details of every inch of the place as if he were sightseeing. In aggravation, she began to set every painting they passed on fire, "Stay focussed, gill boy."

"That was the longest meeting I've endured since we all tried to get Queen Victoria to go on a diet," Magnus sighed as they walked out of the dining room,

"At least this one was more successful," Jace chuckled.

Magnus was ready to laugh and even high-five Jace on such a punch line, until he became ambushed by a tidal wave of demonic energy. He completely froze as he looked from left to right and held his hand up to stop everyone behind him. Alec read the signal as a cue to load his bow and Jace swiftly had his seraph in his grip.

"Who's guarding Ember?" Isabelle asked as her whip slithered down her wrist,

"Our guards," Esme replied,

"Well, I suggest that you give them admin jobs instead; there are four demons roaming your halls with Ember and another warlock directing them," Magnus said,

"Split off evenly around the building, we need Ember alive," Theo ordered as his silver lasso glowed,

Without Magnus asking, Alec instantly ran in the direction of the room where Clary was looking after Max and Rafael. With a whistle, Magnus was followed by Esme and two other Shadowhunters in the direction of the entrance to the Institute. It was hard to concentrate his magic on locating Ember when anxiety over Max and Rafael was filling his mind. He could only pray that Alec and Clary would protect them as he began to put a spell on the door.

"No one but me will be able to open this door," Magnus assured as he turned to Esme,

"What about us?" a Shadowhunter asked,

"It's my spell."

Magnus was ready to battle the Shadowhunter with worlds, but a hit in the chest and a point to the left staircase from Esme made him go dead quiet. There was only silence filling his ears, until the sound of footsteps and snarling gradually grew. To leave via the front door was such an obvious option leaving Magnus surprised that Ember would choose it, but as long as she was nowhere near his children, he was content.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ember tutted as she got to the top of the staircase.

One of the probably less experienced Shadowhunters panicked and threw a dagger at Ember and instead of stopping it herself, a famith demon jumped in front of her with the mouth on its hand devouring the blade as rapidly as it flew. Ember cackled as an acanthus demon emerged behind her with poison leaking from its thorns.

"Let us pass," Ember ordered as if Magnus was one of her brainless minions,

"Keep dreaming, bitch," Esme snarled as she took out her seraph blade,

"Fine."

Ember threw a sea of magic over them which Magnus caught as he sprang in front of Esme, rendering only the two of them able to move. He morphed her magic into two bolts of lightning and projected them onto the famith demon, leaving only dust and one last demon as Ember's protection. He was prepared to attack with another spell, when he felt a sharp pain surge through his left shoulder and the rest of his body like wildfire. He grabbed his shoulder with the hope to find the source of the stabbing agony, but was only left confused when he found no blood and no weapon in it. There was a blood curdling laughing that came from Ember as the pain faded and a portal appeared.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," Ember said before going through the portal.

The acanthus demon threw thorns at them, which Esme dodged and deflected while she ran up the steps, but her efforts were wasted as the portal closed as soon as the demon entered it. Hastily, Magnus created his own portal and made it engulf both him and Esme.

They appeared in one of the chambers. The room had been turned upside down with the bed sheets looking as if they had been half eaten and the doors of the wardrobe and the bathroom turned into several planks of broken wood, but what frightened Magnus was the gaping hole in the back wall where the window should've been. Clary was sitting against the bed, clutching her side and breathing heavily with her arm around Rafael. Magnus could see fingertips clenching onto the unstable bricks of the hole and he instantly used his magic to bring Alec to safety. Alec winced in pain as he hovered onto the floor with a dagger plunged into his left shoulder. It had become a usual routine for Magnus to heal his injured partner, but that didn't mean he didn't slightly panic as he slowly and carefully removed the dagger and began to weave Alec's skin and flesh back together.

"They they took him," he breathed heavily, "They took Max."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Alec's face was the colour of freshly fallen snow, his dimmed blue eyes were staring into blank space, his nails dug into his skin and Magnus had never felt him become so cold. In fact, Magnus had never seen him like this at all. He wasn't certain on what to do as his mind was a storm of anger, anxiety and anguish also and his eyes were burning with held back tears. While everyone was discussing their plans of action, Magnus imagined everything that Max would be doing- attempting to plait Izzy's hair, having a thumb war with Rafael and playing with his Papa's rings as he giggled. He didn't blame Alec for Max being taken, but he could feel the immense guilt that manifested within him. When he looked at him, he could see Alec's brave facade beginning to crumble and before it could completely collapse, Magnus put the whole room on pause apart from them.

"You did all you could," Magnus spoke softly as he placed his hand over his,

"I obviously didn't do enough," Alec's voice trembled as tears crept down his cheeks.

Though Magnus caught each and every one of his tears, Alec refused to lay his eyes on him.

"Look at me, Alexander," he said,

"How can I? I promise you that the one thing I'd put above my duty is our family and it turns out that I can't even protect that. As I helplessly watched them tear our son away, my heart broke and all I could think of was how I not only failed as a Shadowhunter, I failed as a father. I failed."

It was as if their hearts were entwined together; Magnus caught Alec as he fell into his arms, they cried to the same beat and he could feel the weight of guilt being lifted from Alec. As his tears decreased, he caught a glimpse of the frozen Rafael who looked like he was about to tie Jace's laces together.

"You haven't completely failed," he smiled as he pointed to Rafe,

A grin graced Alec's face, "Max has rubbed off on him."

Magnus wiped the last of Alec's tears away, before kissing him gently and running his hand through his hair. Their eyes stayed locked as Alec brushed his fingers along Magnus's arm veins, across his shoulders and up his neck, sending goosebumps all over his body.

"I don't know what I'd do without you," Alec whispered,

"That's why I'm always going to be by your side," Magnus kissed him, "now, let's get our son back."

It took a couple of minutes for Magnus to gather himself before he snapped his fingers and everything started to move again. As they debated, Magnus watched Rafael tie Jace's shoes together and then sit on his lap as if he was a little angel. It was still evidently hard for Alec to stop beating himself up, but once his and Magnus's hands weaved together, he started to join in with the conversation and ended up creating the whole mission in one breathless sentence.

"So we just stroll up to the Eiffel Tower, face a psychopathic warlock, her fishy friend and not to mention her armada of demons, oh and close a portal leading to the depths of hell," Clary clarified.

There was a brief silence as everyone nodded and looked at each other as if the mission didn't sound mad or ridiculous in any way, but then again, this was the shadow world so the whole thing sounded more than ordinary.

"And save Max," Alec added,

"Of course we'll save him," Theo rolled his eyes in a way that was quite sexy despite the rude tone in his voice.

Alec fired shorts right through Theo via his eyes which Theo returned in kind but with a much more intense glare. Before it could escalate, Esme cleared her throat in her arrogant brother's ear.

"If we go through with this, there will definitely be a great number of mundane casualties," Esme considered,

"Couldn't Magnus just create wards around the area?" Clary suggested,

"I don't know biscuit, give me a reason why he couldn't," Magnus replied with the upmost sarcasm dripping from his voice and face.

Luckily, Clary seemed to not be taking any word he said seriously as she laughed and didn't even bother to answer him. Magnus wasn't used to going on missions; he was more the fabulous Florence Nightingale than a soldier and he would much prefer to give orders than take them. His job was usually to heal the Shadowhunters he could tolerate (with a fee of course) and then give Alec a relaxing yet sensual massage to loosen his knots and hopefully his belt. Soon Magnus's mind began to digress and envision all the massages that had led to a trail of clothing on the floor, the bedside lamp accidentally falling, giggles, moans and the banging of the headboard against the wall. As a smirk grew on his face, a spine tingling cold came over him and before he could contemplate the reason for it, the room went dark and a frost blue sphere of magic flew into the middle of the room. Rafael bolted across the room to sit on Alec's lap who wrapped his arms around him as he studied the sphere. The sphere pulsed for a while and then turned into the scene of a basement different to the one where they captured Ember. There was a cage which was guarded by Fraco and inside it was a sleeping Max who had handcuffs around his wrists. Magnus had to control his sadness which was quickly joined by rage as Ember moved to lean on the cage.

"I'm going to make this simple. You want your special son, I want my portal. So, Magnus Bane, you come to the Eiffel Tower at 10pm and create my portal or this little blue boy will be falling from the top of the great structure," Ember smiled,

"And if that doesn't work, we'll throw him into a portal to another dimension and you'll never see him again," Fraco added with an overdramatic voice which Ember rolled her eyes at,

"Oh and I can promise you, I'm not bluffing," and with that, the scene disappeared.

The room was completely silent as light returned. It pained Magnus to even imagine Max alive but lost in a dangerous place where he could barely reach him or even worse, dead. He knew that Max could heal others, but healing himself was something he would either do really slowly or not at all. He was prepared to burst in rage, yet he remained calm and put his hand on Alec's shoulder, hoping that would help him do the same.

"I don't like her," Rafael said,

"I think the only one that likes her is that fishy minion," Clary put a smile on Rafael's face.

There were so many thoughts racing through Magnus's mind that he could barely concentrate, but soon, one thought stood out and sat on the tip of his tongue, "She could've taken Rafael or any one of us, but why Max?"

Magnus looked around the room at everyone's faces and noticed that Clary's face had gone pale and she looked slightly nervous. Their eyes connected and Clary gave a sigh, "It's because he can read minds. He showed me while we were in his room, his eyes and hand glow blue and he can do it without feeling weak or anything. Imagine what it would be like to have someone on your side who can hear your enemy's every thought."

Why Ember had such an interest in Max now officially made sense, but if only he had known sooner. The image of Max being held prisoner in a cage like an animal kept replaying in his head like a horror movie stuck on repeat and all he could do was put his head in his hands and sigh. He couldn't let his emotions get the best of him or he would mostly likely breakdown into a pile of tears.

After a couple of seconds of thought, he sat up, "I will approach Ember alone after creating the wards. You will surround the area and there will be some of you on the Eiffel Tower. We get Max and bring him back here where he's safe. Then we get rid of the witch,"

"How?" Theo asked,

"I'll find a way," Magnus replied before standing up and leaving the room in silence.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

"It was kind of funny," Clary insisted,

"That's easy for you to say, you didn't stumble around like an idiot with your laces all tangled together," Jace complained,

"Rafe is hilarious."

Jace stopped them from walking down the corridor, stood in front of Clary and took her hands in his. Clary's heart fluttered as she looked into the sea of pure golden which were his eyes and smiled as his hands ran through her hair. One hand glided down her cheek while the other pulled her into him, leaving their lips only millimetres away from each other and making Clary's heart pound. It surprised her that he could still render her breathless, make her heart pound and even make her feel lightheaded. She slid her hands up his neck to feel goosebumps emerge and then through his cloud soft hair. As their noses touched, she closed her eyes and saw fireworks in her mind when they kissed passionately. Her stomach began to do somersaults as their lips interlocked and Jace's hands roamed from her hair down to her waist.

"What was that for?" Clary whimpered once their lips parted,

"I missed your lips," Jace grinned before kissing her again,

"There are many rooms here, you know," Magnus chuckled from behind them.

The couple laughed as they turned around to see Magnus leaning against the wall with a face of amusement.

"I'm going to do some training," Jace said, before kissing Clary's cheek and walking to the training room.

Clary opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly she felt her stomach flip and churn and she sprinted to the nearest bathroom she could find. This had started happening regularly most mornings for a while and it had meant nothing to her until the moment that Magnus said, "Someone's got a sweet bun in the oven."

She looked up at him hopelessly while he held her hair back and tutted when he realized that he was the first one to know. The truth was that she was hoping she had been eating bad food or had caught some sort of bug as she and Jace always used protection, but she wasn't that naïve. Magnus helped her up and after she had washed her mouth out, he followed her to her room.

"So, I'm guessing Jace doesn't know," Magnus said as he sat on the bed.

Clary could only shake her head in reply and then lower it when Magnus sighed. Panic quickly spread through her as she realized what they were discussing. She was pregnant. Clarissa Adele Fairchild was going to have a baby. She had no idea how Jace was going to react. He seemed fine when looking after Rafael and Max, but they hadn't talked about their future and having a family and now really didn't seem like the right time. What if he didn't want a baby? He could've wanted it to just be the two of them for a while so that they could travel around the world like Magnus and Alec and they could get married all before having a family. This was all just bad timing. Horrible timing.

"Please don't tell Jace or anyone in fact, he can't know, no one can know, not yet just not yet," Clary begged,

"Calm down, biscuit. It's not my place to divulge such news," Magnus spoke with a tender voice, "have you even taken a pregnancy test?"

"No, but only because we always use protection or if we don't use it, he doesn't… you know,"

Magnus cringed, "Sometimes just no is appropriate. Oh and honey, condoms only work like 97% of the time, have you never watched Friends?"

"What do I do, Magnus?"

Bursting into tears became highly likely for her and she rested her head on Magnus's shoulder. It wasn't that she was sad about having a baby; she was over the moon, but she feared that she wouldn't be good enough and would let her child down. As she thought about how she'd look after her son or daughter, she realized that after she was thrown against a wall, she had Magnus only help her with her soar side and she didn't know if the baby was okay after all of that.

"Could you sense it?" she asked,

"What do you mean 'sense it'?" Magnus replied,

"Like, could you use your magic to see it inside my stomach?"

Magnus sighed and rubbed his hands together, "Lie down."

There was a sudden heavy feeling in her stomach as she lay on her back and prayed to every angel in the sky that her unborn child was okay. As Magnus hovered his hands above her stomach, she thought about how she'd juggle being a Shadowhunter and a mother at the same time like Jocelyn and Maryse did. She wasn't as strong as them and she knew she'd happily choose having a family over killing demons any day. But maybe that was the solution. Jace wouldn't have to stop being the great Shadowhunter he was if Clary was always there looking after the children. As thoughts raced through her mind, Magnus tapped her shoulder.

"Listen very carefully," he whispered.

Blue magic swirled up from her stomach into the air and formed two balls. The balls soon began to pulse like beating hearts and she could hear a small fragile heartbeat faintly bless her ears. Tears fell down her cheek as she watched the balls carry on beating and it felt like the sound of her baby's heart was the only one that existed.

"Is it blue because it's a boy?" Clary smiled through her tears full of joy,

"I may be a warlock, but I can't tell quite yet. Just be glad the babies are okay," Magnus smiled as he sat next to her feet,

"What do you mean 'babies'?"

"Aren't the fact that there are two spheres a clue?"

Clary sat up in shock and wiped her tears away to make room on her cheeks for more beads of happiness as Magnus made the two spheres disappear. She pulled Magnus by the arm and wrapped her arms around him, most likely squeezing air out of him (luckily he was immortal). As she squealed with excitement, the door abruptly opened. As Jace entered with his earphones in, she pushed Magnus away and quickly wiped away any evidence of her tears. Clary and Magnus sat on the bed awkwardly while looking at Jace and wondering if he was ever going to notice them as he took his t-shirt off. It was when he turned around to leave the room that he jumped in shock.

"Oh now he notices," Magnus sighed,

"Is there something wrong?" Jace asked as he took out one of his earphones,

"Everything's fine. Magnus is just going to help me get some sleep," Clary sniffed.

Jace looked at her with concern before kissing her head and stroking her cheek. The feeling of his surprisingly soft hands on her cheek was enough to make a tear slip from her eye as she thought about how she was going to tell him that he was going to be a father.

"What's wrong, gorgeous?" he asked as he wiped the tear off of her cheek,

"I just… I can't help but think about Max," she lied,

"Don't worry, we'll get him back safely," he kissed her before making his way to the door.

She knew that she had to tell him, but she couldn't do it now; they had to focus on the mission.

"I love you," she smiled,

Jace turned around and blew her a kiss, "I love you three times more."

Once he had left and closed the door, Clary collapsed onto the bed and felt all energy evacuate her body.

Magnus chuckled slightly, "The irony."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

"Aunt Iz is in the bathroom," Rafael said as he talked to Simon over her phone,

"I'll wait then, just wanted to see if she's okay," Simon replied with the sound of cars in the background,

"She's always okay, as long as I don't play the violin around her; it makes her cry,"

"Yeah, that's why she doesn't like you playing it," Simon said with a sarcastic voice,

"I may be young, but I'm Magnus's child; I understand sarcasm,"

"Sorry, little man."

Isabelle poked her head through the doorway of the bathroom with her sea of black curls cascading down and a smile on her face. Rafael was in awe of her beauty; she reminded him of the gorgeous paintings of unnamed women that graced the institute, her skin was the smoothest porcelain and there wasn't any expression she made that tainted her angelic good looks.

"Be nice, boys," Izzy grinned as she got out her makeup bag,

"I'm trying," Rafael said as he handed her the phone.

He ended up sitting on the bed, listening to their conversation and watching Izzy put on her makeup and sort out her outfit. The way they spoke was much more lovey-dovey than Magnus and Alec; there were so many more pet names and they seemed to laugh with each other rather than at each other. As he listened to their conversation, Rafael's left side began to grow cold, he felt boredom he hadn't felt before and sadness crept up on him slowly. Since Max hugged him two days after they had met, the two had been inseparable. When Rafael practiced piano, Max would sit and watch while clapping after every tune, when Max practiced magic, Rafael would happily be the guinea pig for him as it meant they were together. Family was something that had never mattered more to Rafe since he lost his first one and not being able to turn around and see Max giggling like a hyper jack-in-the-box made his heart break. There was no joke he could make by himself that wouldn't be better with his best blue friend next to him, there was no one that could replace him and nothing was the same without him. Uncontrollable tears began to fall down his cheeks as he thought about Max being in a cage all by himself.

"Is Rafael crying?" Simon asked.

As he shook his head, Isabelle cradled him in her arms and stroked his head in the soothing way that she did whenever he had a nightmare.

"Max will be fine, little man, I promise," Simon said softly,

"He's right. Max is a strong boy," Isabelle assured as she hung up on Simon,

"I don't want to lose him too," Rafael cried.

He started having flashbacks of hiding while his family and friends were being murdered. When he closed his eyes, he saw his mother with a seraph blade in her hand and screaming for him and his friends to hide, he saw the light that came through the slight gap between the wardrobe doors, he saw a tall man with platinum blonde hair and black eyes slaughter those that were meant to be training him and he saw the lifeless bodies that he scrambled across just to end up starving on the streets. This couldn't be happening again. His nightmares and his past couldn't be replayed like a cruel trick served to him by the hands of the devil. He grabbed onto Izzy's clothes as he cried and prayed for the angel to spare his family and if he had to, to take him instead. Max was too innocent for all of this.

"What if Max dies?" were the words he managed to say through his tears,

"He won't. I won't let that happen; no one hurts my nephews," she said as she kissed his forehead.

The door opened and through his blurred eyes, Rafael saw a figure of comfort sit next to Izzy on the bed and lift him into his arms.

"Dad," Rafael cried,

"What's wrong, mi amigo?" Alec asked,

"I want Max."

Warmth spread through him as his father held him close as if he was afraid of letting him go. A fraction of the fear that lingered inside of Rafael drifted away as Alec stroked his back and kissed his head. He hadn't been comforted like this since he was a baby; his mother would rock him back to sleep when he had had a nightmare and sing lullabies to him in Spanish. In an attempt to stop him from crying, Alec rocked him gently side to side, kept Rafael close to his body and began to sing the only Spanish lullaby he knew. Though he was still distressed, a smile grew on Rafael's face as Alec stumbled on some of the words and even Izzy giggled at his valiant effort.

"Max will be fine," Alec said softly, "we're going to go get him and then we'll go home,"

"Do you promise?" Rafael looked up at him

"Cross my heart."

Rafael stood on Alec's lap and put his arms around his neck. The ability to have someone to call 'father' was something Rafael was once certain that he wouldn't ever have again. It wasn't until Alec and Magnus tickled him when he woke up scared, cuddled him in their arms and then fell asleep with him that he realized that maybe he could have another family- even if it wasn't the most conventional one.

"Can I go get him with you?" he asked as he sat in between his father and Izzy,

"That's out of the question," Izzy immediately said,

"She's right, it's too dangerous and I'm not going to risk losing you too, buddy," Alec agreed,

"But-"

"No, Rafael."

He knew he couldn't go on a mission with them, he didn't know how to throw a dagger perfectly straight yet, but that only made him more determined to save Max. Maybe he could prove to his parents that adopting him was the right thing to do and that he was a true Shadowhunter, even if a downworlder was bringing him up.

"So, who will stay with me?" he sighed,

"There are two Shadowhunters called…erm…some names…and they'll stay with you here until we get back," Alec explained,

"Have you warned them?" Izzy joked,

"About what? I'm a pleasant young man," Rafael laughed.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Magnus sat on the bed with his back leaning up against the wall and his feet almost edging over the end of it. After having a well deserved shower and introducing Rafael to the two Shadowhunters that would be looking after him, he found himself just sitting there, replaying memories of his unbelievable family and missing his son. He had sent Max a small blue bird, as the thought of him being terrified in a cage made Magnus feel nauseous and he knew it would put a smile on his son's face. Though he had sent him small blue animals several times, he only got one reply of a blue butterfly which broke his heart. Throughout his extremely long life, there had been moments where he had felt helpless, powerless and lost, but he somehow knew he would get through it; this was the one occasion where all those feelings constantly multiplied and he wasn't sure if he'd make it out the other side of this dark tunnel. When he closed his eyes, the darkness morphed into a haunting image of Max in a cell with hopelessness smeared over his face, snarling demons surrounding him and then Ember draining his innocent life out of him. As he let the back of his head hit against the wall, Alec came in with sweat thinning his hair and dampening his t-shirt which teased the outline of his physique. Magnus attempted to make a smile, but instead he watched him with a lifeless expression as Alec went into the bathroom and splashed water over his face.

"Rafael is fine; he's drawing something for Max," Alec said as he took off his top and dabbed his body down with a towel,

"That's good," Magnus spoke unusually quietly.

His brain projected into the air the thought of Max running around their apartment in Isabelle's shoes and as Magnus watched it on repeat, Alec sat by his side and stroked his cheek.

"Aren't you the one who told me to be strong at times like this?" Alec said,

"Yes but," Magnus let the projection fade, "it's hard; he's our son,"

"I know, but take it from me, the more you let your feelings get in the way, the more mistakes you'll make, and mistakes can lead to casualties."

He was right. Of course he was right. But how was Magnus meant to throw his feelings away, when his son's life was at stake as well as the world? If it was a stranger that was held captive, he wouldn't be going through this emotional torture and he'd be most likely be planning his outfit. However, he didn't care about what shoes he was going to put on or what accessories would go with them and he felt drained from the amount of emotions he was feeling all at once. He needed to be distracted for a moment.

"You worry me when you're like this," Alec brushed his hand through his hair,

"How are you so calm?" he asked,

"Training and exercise took my mind off of it and I know we'll get Max back safe and sound."

A smile slowly crept onto Magnus's face, but it faded quicker than it had came. Alec kissed his cheek with his cold, yet soft lips sending shivers around Magnus's body. He knew that Alec was trying to make him feel better by giving him kisses and stroking his thigh, but it didn't seem to be working like it usually did; Max was embedded into his brain until he could hold him again.

"You just need to relax," Alec whispered with his breath tickling his neck,

"It's not working, Alec," Magnus sighed.

In the blink of an eye, Alec moved on top of Magnus in one fluid motion and restrained his arms. There was a gleam in his eye that matched the cheeky grin on his face which only meant that he was plotting something that Magnus was either going to hate or really enjoy. Before he could retaliate, Alec was caressing his waist, hips and arms with the tips of his fingers that swiftly lead to Magnus giggling uncontrollably and squirming underneath him.

"Stop it," he laughed,

"Make me," Alec whispered in his ear.

It quickly became too much for Magnus to bear, but as he attempted to push him off, Alec pressed his whole body against him. The tickles and tingles that raced around his body gave him a sudden charge which supplied the strength to push Alec off of him and onto his back, before sitting on top of him and pinning his arms up above his head. Breathlessly, he gazed into Alec's eyes and felt the passion and excitement that emanated off of him. Alec bit his bottom lip which drove Magnus crazy as electricity surged through him and he wasn't sure if he could control himself. Slowly, he lowered himself so his lips were hovering over Alec's and in revenge, he kissed his neck and chest while keeping him pinned down. As he breathed onto his neck, Alec began to try to wriggle out from under him, but was stopped when Magnus began to nibble his ear, run his hand down his chest and unbutton his trousers. He thought he had gained dominance over him, but Alec had other plans and flipped him onto his back and ripped off his shirt.

"That shirt was a gift."

There was a grin on Alec's face as he threw it on the floor and slid his tongue down his neck and chest. The sensation of his tongue made Magnus breathless, his body temperature rose, butterflies went just as crazy as him in his stomach and a tingling thrill spread across his body. He had to admit; Alec knew exactly how to make him relax. His body went weak with every kiss and touch that Alec teased him with and a moan left his lips as his hand slipped down his trousers. Alec caught his moans with his lips as Magnus pushed down his trousers and then let his hands roam around Alec's body and squeeze his ass. Their tongues brushed against each other as Alec's strokes composed more of Magnus's moans that grew louder and he clawed at his back as the immense pleasure possessed him.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Max had given up on begging Ember to let him go; she'd only laugh at him while Fraco ignored him completely. Though it seemed selfish, he really wished that Rafael was there with him as at least then, he'd feel much calmer and could distract himself. The one thing keeping him from bursting into tears was the constant little blue animals that would fly into the cage, dance around him and then whisper in his ear, "Love Papa." Max had attempted to copy them, but the most he could do was send a small blue butterfly and hope that Magnus loved it. As he shuffled around to get more comfortable, he watched Ember whisper to Fraco in the corner of the room. Unlike the basement of the café, this one was much larger, cold and grey with the only light daring to enter the room coming from six small rectangular windows at the top of the walls. Soon, a small blue monkey danced through the window, between the electric bars and around Max. He couldn't help but giggle as he watched it swirl around him and clap its hands before whispering, "Love Papa." Once it disappeared, Max attempted to create another butterfly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Fraco boomed.

The butterfly fizzled into the air before Max could send it, as fear hit him and rendered him frozen. It turned out that Magnus had made sure that only Max would see the things he was sending, but Max didn't know how on earth to do that. Ember slowly walked up to the cage, her eyes were fixated on him and she looked like an angry lion ready to devour her prey.

"What have you been sending Magnus?" she demanded,

"Nothing that concerns you," Max replied.

His punishment for replying with such attitude was Fraco pulling him into the agonizing charged cage bars and when he fell to the floor, the pain became too much for such a young boy to bare. If Rafael was there, or even uncle Jace, Max knew he would've be able to cope with the pain, but this was all too much; he was alone, helpless and feared that his family had been hurt. The terror built up inside as he cried and soon it began to overflow. His fright and despair morphed into an immense pulse of energy which dispersed throughout the entire basement, making Ember, Fraco and anything standing collapse, turning their demons into dust and shattering the glass windows into sand. After wiping his tears away, Max watched his glowing blue hands fade and saw the destruction he had caused. The basement had been turned upside down, the cupboard doors were either hanging onto their hinges for dear life or had completely fallen, tables had been flipped with some of them even missing their once sturdy legs, chairs had been snapped in half like twigs and he could finally feel fresh air hit his skin. He wasn't sure if what he had done was normal or something only he could do like reading minds, but his hands never glowed blue when he did regular magic. With a groan, Ember got up with her hair turning white and fear in her eyes as she slowly walked towards the cage.

"Your father would be proud," she said as she reached in and stroked his hair,

Max coiled away from her towards the back corner of the cage, "You don't know my Dad or my Papa,"

"No, but I know your real father; I did some searching."

Max had begun to wonder about the demon that created him months ago, but he never asked, because he had all the family that mattered. The idea of being the child of a demon made him feel like he was a monster and his horns were a symbol of that, but Magnus always assured him that he was only what he wanted to be. It seemed that Ember had an obsession with him and maybe if he knew why, he could stop her.

"Your father is a greater demon called Morax. He's the president of Hell and was put in charge of teaching demons how to read the stars and know about the precious substances that come from the ground. Like you, he can read minds and feelings as well as control them to turn even the most innocent into the greatest sinners. It's said that he has the head of a bull with a blue body and his eyes glow blue when he possesses the minds of men," Ember's eyes glistened with the every word.

Hearing about his true father made Max feel uncomfortable and his fear of Ember was joined with fear of himself. If he's the son of the President of Hell, what does that make him? Could he turn into the same bull-headed monster?

"My fathers are Magnus and Alexander," he adamantly replied.

Ember laughed psychotically as she walked away and pulled Fraco up by his collar. The pair stood opposite each other and began chanting spells with their eyes lock on one another. The words that spilled from their lips were ones that Max had never heard before, but something about them sent a painful chill down his spine. A flash of light took over the room and once it disappeared, there was a large crack in the ceiling which unveiled an aphotic red sky with snarling and growling demons morphing from the black clouds, their eyes glowing and their dark power filling the room in the form of a twisting dark red fog. There was a menacing whisper that spread around the room as Ember chanted more and her hair became black with every word. All sorts of demons emerged from the fog, stood in a perfect formation like sinister soldiers and waited for their orders from Ember. As their words faded, the crack in the ceiling closed, yet the whispering carried on in Max's ear as if it was right next to him.

"We must get going," Ember grinned as the cage bars disappeared and she pulled Max towards her, "Hell is waiting."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

The atmosphere around the Eiffel Tower was heavy with the suffocating stench of sulphur, there was a red fog slithering through the air carrying demonic energy with it and Magnus soon couldn't see what was in front of him. Fear scuttled through him, yet he had to control his emotions or he knew he wouldn't be able to go through with the plan. As he walked, his phone buzzed letting him know that Theo ad Jace had cleared the area of mundanes, allowing Magnus to turn his back to the tower and create the barriers that would conceal the carnage. The walls stretched above the tower, making a dome at the top and restricting the menacing fog from going any further. While he cautiously wandered, he cleared the fog, allowing him to see something that not even his nightmares would cruelly conjure up. Hanging from the highest barrier of the Eiffel Tower was a cage made of red magic and sitting helplessly in it with fright taking over him was Max. The pain that Magnus suffered as he watched Max cry was incomparable to any physical agony he had even endured. As he wiped away a tear, he formed a small blue bear, sent it running up to Max and smiled as he watched his son play with the bear and hug it.

"Papa!" Max cried,

"Well it's about time," Ember sighed,

"I know this may not work, but let him go and please stop with this whole psychotic bitch thing; it's not a good look," Magnus said as he approached Ember,

"Make my portal."

The twisting and winding red smoke circled them underneath the great attraction and once Ember clicked her fingers, it morphed into a ring of various demons all ready to devour their prey if it didn't comply with their masters' wishes. This was the part of the plan that could go dreadfully wrong if everything wasn't timed perfectly.

"It will take time," he said before sending blue sparks into the air,

"Then do it quickly," Ember urged.

Magnus grinned as he looked behind her to see his tiny spell fade, revealing Alec who cracked his knuckles as he scanned the growing number of demons around them.

"He's not your bitch," he said before elbowing her to the ground, "he's mine."

At the release of his arrow, the other Shadowhunters gathered and began to fight the demons as Magnus reluctantly started to create the portal. The whole thing would involve weaving the ground, the protective barriers and even the great tower itself with spells and enchantments allowing there to be enough demonic energy for the portal to exist. The last time a portal like this was made, it took months and Magnus watched an old friend die for it, how he was going to create one in a matter of minutes was beyond him.

"We had a deal," Ember said as she got up,

"Yes we did, but you didn't mention any specifics," Magnus spoke as he spread his magic through the ground, "oh and I hope you brought your own sacrifice, because I'm certainly not giving up my family for this."

Strangely, as the amount of magic he used increased, the stronger he felt, but there was doubt in the back of his mind over whether his plan would work and they would all leave Paris unharmed. He heard an arrow fly past him with a kind of singing noise and he had to dodge a couple of daggers as he concentrated on the portal.

Fighting the demons was the easiest thing for Alec, yet trying to get to Max was proving significantly harder; with every step he took up the Eiffel Tower steps, a demon was there to slow him down. As he ran up the final flight of stairs, he dodged an acanthus demons' prickly arm, shot an arrow through its back and swiped it down the stairs with his bow before watching it turn to ash. He breathed heavily as he walked onto the balcony and looked at the scene below. He could see merely black dots, yet he knew which dots were demons and it seemed that Ember was making her army increase with each one that was struck down.

"Here for the kid are you?" a voice chuckled.

Alec turned to see Fraco with green balls of magic hovering over his open hands and behind him was the cage that held Max. There was nothing in the world that was going to keep Alec away from his son, especially not a gilled idiotic warlock.

"You don't have to do this," Alec wanted his son to see him being empathetic.

Instead of accepting his offer to surrender, Fraco threw one of the balls of energy towards him which Alec somersaulted over. Alec pointed his seraph blade to Fraco's throat, but he made the handle unbearably hot, forcing Alec to drop it and then kicked him in the chest. More magic was thrown his way which he effortlessly dodged and in frustration, Fraco threw him against the metal barriers of the balcony, leaving Alec's torso paralysed. The warlock came closer with a taunting grin on his face and his gills pulsing as Alec struggled to move and though he kicked out at him, he was too far away.

"Isn't it a shame that your son will have to watch you die?"

To wipe the smile off of his face, blue sparks hit Fraco onto the floor and Alec was released. He pushed himself off of the barrier, punching Fraco as he landed and rolled to grab his bow. As he brushed his hand through his hair, he stamped on Fraco's back, pinning him to the ground and then fired three arrows along his spine. He knew that he wouldn't die, but it would take him a long time to get up from having three arrows lodged in his back and connecting him to the floor of the balcony on the Eiffel Tower. Alec ran to the barrier keeping him away from the cage and cut through it.

"You can't touch the bars or they disappear," Max warned,

"Thanks buddy, but that still doesn't help me get you out," Alec sighed as he analysed the cage,

"You're the Shadowhunter, you figure it out,"

"When we get home, we're going to have a talk about your growing attitude."

He carefully put his arms between the bars, but even when Max moved as close as possible to him, he couldn't reach him to stroke his cheek and reassure him that everything was going to be alright. It was a relief to see a smile on Max's face despite hanging above Paris, but the smiles were disrupted by the arrival of a ravener demon. Alec clutched his seraph blade and ran at it, slicing off two of its legs, however as the demon attempted to keep itself upright, it swung its deadly tail, making him bend backwards. This gave way for the tail to hit the cage.

The cage that could not be touched.

As if in slow motion, Alec heard the magic fizzle out like a dying sparkler and a gasp from Max that echoed through his ears. He could only reach out for Max and then watched as their hands barely touched and Max fell.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Being in the grasp of a demon was not the most desirable or comfortable position Isabelle Lightwood had ever been in. She had maximum three scratched, her hair was still in place and the demons just kept coming as if they were on a conveyor belt. As she attempted to free herself, a petrified call from Alec and a child-like scream banged on her eardrums and it made her stomach churn and her heart beat irregularly to witness Max plummeting through the air at such a rapid speed. Either due to instinct or incredibly quick thinking, Izzy flung her whip out as far as it could go and with impossible speed. Though only the snake head reached him, it was all she needed to be able to make it wrap around Max and pull him into her before he could hit the floor. The relief of having him crash into her chest and not the ground was sadly short-lived when she remembered the demon she was restricted by.

"Just one second," she sighed as she placed Max carefully on the ground in front of her.

Effortlessly, Izzy took a dagger from her belt, cut the slimy arm around her in half and then did the same to the demon's body with her sword. When she turned to Max, there was more awe in his wide eyes than fear or any other emotion he should've been feeling.

"Magnus will kill me for letting you see that," she sighed as she picked him up,

"What Papa don't now don't hurt him," Max chimed,

"He's like a mini Jace," Clary breathed heavily and threw a dagger through three forsaken at once.

Izzy and Clary could only focus on getting Max to a safe place while getting rid of the demons in their way. Though the bigger mission was to stop a warlock that clearly belonged in an asylum and save the world, it was more important to Izzy to get Max home and more importantly, alive. It was as they reached some bushes that the smell of sulphur increased and Max pushed himself out of Izzy's arms. The smell was so thick and heavy that it put her off of breathing completely and she used the fruity scent of her hair to block it out.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Max cried as his eyes glowed blue.

The outburst filled the air, causing a pulse of energy to push everyone back, as a large bull-headed demon came towards them. The horns of the bull were like Max's but much larger and deadlier, his eyes glowed a similar yet darker blue, black thick vapour slithered from his snout where a large silver ring hung, his body was heavily loaded with muscle and had sizzling chains bonded around it and he had the legs of a bull to match his head. This was a greater demon Izzy hadn't seen before, but the way it stared at Max triggered the cogs to turn in her head. As it came closer, it became evident that the demonic symbols she had thought were written over his body, were in fact carved into his skin and smoke started to emit from them as he held out his hairy hand for Max.

"Oh, you're not taking my nephew anywhere," Clary guarded Max,

"He may be our nephew," Izzy said as Morax lowered his monstrous hand, "but I think he's his father."

Morax slammed his hoof into the ground, creating cracks in it as his eyes focussed on Clary. A sudden scream of pain came from her with the bull grunting with what must've been entertainment. Just the sound of Clary in pain made Izzy's skin itch and she flung her whip around the greater demon's neck and pulled, turning its focus away from Clary, but onto her. It was as if all the fire, hatred, agony and darkness of Pandemonium filled her head, concocting the most excruciating torture she had ever felt. The longer the pain continued, the less control she had over her mind which soon filled with the most horrendous thoughts, including killing Clary. Her whip left Morax's neck and coiled around Clary's leg so she could drag her to the floor and as Izzy struck her sword down, Clary rolled out of the way.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Clary asked.

As she swung her sword at Clary and fought her, Izzy had no idea as to what she was doing; all she knew was that the pain in her head wasn't budging and she was abiding a deep husky voice. The more she attempted to go against the twisted words, the louder the voice boomed and the greater the agony became. When Clary swiped her sword in Izzy's direction, Izzy kicked it out of her hands, slammed her first into her stomach and when she fell to the ground, Izzy tightly wrapped her hands around her neck. Her reflection in Clary's eyes showed that her irises were glowing bright blue and a sinister laugh echoed in her head as Clary fought for breath.

"Aunty Izzy," Max walked cautiously by her and placed his hands on her cheeks.

It was as if a tsunami of quiet stormed through her head, relieving her of the pain and more importantly, the controlling voice. As her grip loosened from Clary's neck, Morax made a large roar and stamped his hoof harder.

"Thank you, Maximus," Izzy smiled as she helped Clary to her feet, "now, let's get daddy dearest back to the void of which he came."

The chains around Morax's body uncoiled into his hands and he threw them in their direction, parting Izzy and Clary. Taking on a greater demon like Morax wasn't something Izzy was used to, but when she saw Max's face full of terror, she cracked her whip and faced Morax with adrenaline eradicating any hint of fear or doubt in her.

"Max, I need you to try to stop him from controlling us," Izzy ordered,

"After that Hobbit reference, I'll do anything," Max giggled.

Clary drew a rune on her hand that emitted pure sunlight which she directed at Morax. Though it didn't kill him, it caused him a great deal of agony, giving Izzy the perfect window to throw a dagger into his chest and get slightly closer to him. Once the sunlight faded, he flung his chains around Clary which burned her skin and clothes as he pulled her into him, however when he attempted to do the same to Izzy, she dodged the chains and kicked them so they wrapped around his body. With a groan, Morax threw Clary to the floor and focussed on Izzy with his eyes glowing. Although they made eye contact, there was a protective wall now in Izzy's mind stopping him from controlling her and in frustration, Morax swung his colossal fist into her, sending her flying through the air and he caught her with his tail. When he brought her inches away from his face, the toxic fumes that leaked from his snout began to choke her, yet that wasn't stopping her. She made her whip slither behind him and wrap around his neck, before tugging at the end, making Morax flip and fall onto his front with his tail still around her. Thankfully, Izzy remained hovering above his back where she noticed three glowing blue marks- one on his neck, one on the middle of his spine and the last one above his tail. After slicing his tail off, she rammed daggers into two of the blue marks, making the greater demon growl in agony which forced the ground to shake. As she steadied herself, Izzy turned to Max and signalled for him to cover his eyes. When he did, Morax got up slowly and grabbed her by the neck, yet his grip was weak enough for her to twist his arm which released her, slide between his legs and plunge her seraph blade into the last blue mark on his spine. She watched Morax spasm before he reduced to black ash that filled the air and disappeared into the ground.

"Hopefully, we won't be seeing him for a while," Izzy breathed heavily as she picked up Max,

Max looked up at her, "You promise?"


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Magnus had just gotten over the heart attack of witnessing his son almost fall to his death and he had become increasingly thankful for the Lightwoods' existence. He knew that if he hadn't been creating a portal that needed all of his magic and concentration, he would've been the first one to catch Max and he felt ashamed that he wasn't.

"How long until this void portal thing is ready?" Jace asked as he took a break from killing demons,

"Oh, any second now, my love and then I'll make you a sandwich with a nice cold beer," Magnus sarcastically chimed.

Before he could come back with something just a sarcastic, this hiss of a Scorpios demon came darting towards Jace. It pushed him onto his back with its huge monkey-like hands and before it could sink its tail into his chest, he sliced off its hands and got to his feet. Magnus could hear the hum of the demon's agile needle tail as it swung through the air and attempted to pierce Jace. He ducked, narrowly missing the tail, before clicking his fingers which made the demon completely freeze and allowed Jace to slice through its throat and watch it die. The little magic Magnus used had exuded the last of his energy from him and he had to lean on Jace to keep himself stable.

"I know you're weak, but I'd really prefer a pizza over a sandwich," Jace joked,

"If you could stop your little joke session and carry on with my portal, that would be great," Ember boomed as she directed three forsaken in Jace's direction.

With a heavy sigh, Jace threw a dagger at one forsaken and then ran to the left so that they wouldn't attack Magnus. The dark energy that he had summoned rushed through him, causing his head to pulse, his whole body to heat up and his mouth to become as dry as the Sahara. But before his absence of energy could cripple him, Ember grasped his hand and forced all the strength he needed through his palm. She had done this every time he began to even show signs of lacking in strength, yet he knew it wasn't due to the magnanimity of her non-existent heart.

It was almost done.

Magnus exhaled heavily as he placed a piece of glass on the floor and made it the centre of every spell and enchantment that he had sewn into the very ground he stood on. The air started to grow thick with the fiendish infernal force that saturated the landmark and though he had committed an act which he pledged to never do, Magnus couldn't help but pat himself on the back for completing something so arduous.

As he stepped back from the glass, he turned to Ember, "One last tiny thing is required."

The corner of Ember's mouth rose as she waved her hand which made Fraco appear while he was in the middle of taking an arrow out of his back.

"I could gladly kill that Lightwood," Fraco sighed,

"Oh trust me, you wouldn't want such a work of art to be killed," Magnus replied.

With not even an ounce of emotion riddled in her face, Ember created a long sharp spear out of her magic and pierced it directly into Fraco's heart. The magic spread through his veins, turning them jet black as the light in his eyes faded and his gills tremored as his body struggled to regenerate. Ember shoved him towards Magnus who didn't understand how she could kill a comrade as easily as killing a fly and with the tip of his finger, he positioned the unfortunate soul to have his feet either side of the slab of glass. Once a single drop of blood hit it, glowing hellish red cracks began to form in the ground as the glass began to tremble, all the demons froze, the protective walls and the Eiffel Tower turned lava red as they became consumed by the demonic power and the ground shook violently. Magnus moved as far away as possible from the raging ball of fire that began to grow as the amount of blood that poured from Fraco increased.

"Magnus, is it done?" Alec asked as he ran to him,

"Unfortunately, yes."

The fire grew around Fraco and it rapidly became too vast to remain in its spherical form but before it could explode, Magnus created a protective orb around him and Alec. The flames stretched out like enormous blazing tentacles reaching for and grasping every sinister spell that had been weaved into every inch of the area and when they had devoured all of them, they recoiled back to their core. There was a second explosion that knocked everyone onto the floor with the flames imploding as the slab of glass levitated and glowed a dark ghoulish green that spread slightly, creating the rough shape and size of the portal to the Void. Some of the Shadowhunters and demons were too close to it and were sucked in with their screams and roars echoing in everyone's ears.

 _What are you?_

"That's exactly what you asked last time," Magnus said as he got to his feet, "is this all pre-recorded or something?"

 _The warlock._

"Vague, but well done."

 _It is rare for a being to be granted the second chance to come with us._

Alec grabbed Magnus's arm, "What does it mean 'second chance'?"

Magnus shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the question and saving him from telling a very long winded story. He cautiously took a step forward, with his arm in front of Alec as he studied the portal he had created. Ember stood next to him, marvelling at his work with her wicked lunatic grin unveiling itself again and happily standing directly over a red hot crack in the ground.

 _Another joins you._

"I requested for the portal to be made so that the wrath of the Edom itself could be unleashed on a world that condemns downworlders to the shadows," Ember declared,

 _An unblemished wish you have._

"I find it quite melodramatic," Magnus commented.

As Max gazed at the floating glowing piece of glass, he completely forgot that there were still demons coming towards him and was only reminded when Izzy pushed him back and he fell onto the ground. Clary and Izzy were facing off five demons and it made him feel helpless as he saw the numerous Shadowhunters risking their lives while he sat there watching as if it were a 4D movie. As Izzy fought a moloch demon and a shax demon, Max ran between her legs, narrowly missing her sword and then between the legs of the shax demon. He closed his eyes, thought of the biggest explosion in the world forming in his hands and then threw it at the shax demon, making it fly in the air as it burned into ash. There was a shot of confidence that ran up to his brain and he wished he had brought a camera with him so he could have evidence for Rafael, but as he congratulated himself, the dark shadow of another moloch demon fell over him. What he can admit was a slightly girlish scream emitted from his little mouth as he created a barrier between him and the demon. It slammed into the barrier with the roaring flames from its empty eye sockets also attempting to penetrate it and though the barrier was doing its job, Max knew he wouldn't be able to hold it up forever. The protective wall began to fade and Max ducked to avoid the scorching flames and as he did, Izzy's whip flung out at the demon with so much momentum that it flew into air. In an attempt to regain his dignity, Max threw his magic at it, forcing it to enter the portal to the Void. With a cheeky grin on his face, Max turned around to see a large cut going all the way down Clary's arm that was bleeding uncontrollably. Whenever Max had grazed his knees or his arms while attempting to climb trees, Clary was the first one to look after him and wipe away his tears. Before Izzy could take out her stele, Max ran to Clary and held her arm with both of his small hands while summoning the magic to heal her.

"There's no need, blueberry," though Clary tried to mask her pain, Max could hear it in her voice.

He paid no attention to her words. As he focussed more, the world around him became blurry and swirls of blue surrounded Clary's arm with blue sparks emerging when the wound began to close. Though he felt extremely proud of healing someone for the first time, he rapidly became drained of energy and once he had stopped casting his spell, he felt severely lightheaded.

As his vision faded and he fell back into Izzy's arms, he smiled upon hearing Clary's sweet voice say, "You beautiful boy."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Clary held Max in her arms as she sat against a tree and patiently waited for him to wake up. His face looked so peaceful and content as his small chest rose and fell and though he had made Clary feel her strongest, she felt helpless and weak knowing that all her attempts to wake him up had failed. Where she sat was to the left of the portal and Magnus, but it seemed that he was too far away to hear her shout his name and ask whether to take Max to the Institute. As she watched Max, she thought about the children she'd have in a mere nine months. She wondered if they'd be like Max and Rafael, in which case, Jace would have a whole lot more running to do and would they have Jace's golden hair or Clary's red hair? Would they have her eyes or his? She imagined holding her children the way she was holding Max- her left arm cradling him and her right stroking his hair. There was a hint of excitement as she thought of how she and Jace were meant to agree on their children's names.

"Is he okay?" Jace asked as he sat next to her.

He put his seraph blade by his side, wiped blood off of his hand and then stroked Max's cheek, becoming disappointed when it didn't wake him up. Clary gazed at him and smiled at how his face glowed whenever he was with Max and Rafael, a face that she was excited to see the moment he held their children for the first time. Not telling Jace had now become impossible.

"Do you think our children will be this adorable?" she said softly,

"I don't know, but they better not turn out blue or you'll have some questions to answer," Jace laughed as he leant back against the tree,

"Well, you'll find out in nine months what they'll look like."

There was a silence as Jace chuckled to himself and Clary stared at him, wondering how someone as smart as him couldn't catch on. When she looked back at Max, she heard a loud gasp leave Jace's mouth and his hand gently fell onto her shoulder.

"Clary…" his voice trembled, "...are you say that that we will…?"

The only thing she could do was nod vigorously as beads of joy started to trickle down her cheeks and the shock in Jace's face turned into ecstasy. Before he could pull her into his chest, Clary held up two fingers and mouthed the words that were too unbelievable to leave her mouth.

"Only you could make me this happy," he chimed with his voice being muffled in Clary's shoulder as he held her tight.

She couldn't believe that she was terrified of this moment. She was terrified of telling her husband the greatest news she could possibly have. The elation and euphoria that stampeded through her as she kissed Jace, almost made her forget about Max and it was when he groaned that Jace let her out of his arms. Max's eyes flickered open, when he saw Jace, his eyes glistened and he merrily climbed into his lap and snuggled into him. It was obvious that Jace was attempting to keep his tears in, however Clary had let hers fall freely and when she whenever she wiped them away, more would follow.

"What's wrong aunty Clary?" Max sweetly asked,

"Nothing at all, sweetie."

Max suddenly bolted upright and looked in the direction of Alec with confusion and horror covering his face. Slowly, Clary followed his gaze and froze in fright. It was more than a certain fact that it was Max that she was sat next to, which made what she witnessed force her heart to pound and fear to consume her. Max pushed Jace's arm off from around him and ran towards Alec as fast as possible while screaming his name. Whatever was about to happen, Clary feared that it would not end well.

The portal slowly grew in size and the cracks in the ground became larger the longer Magnus allowed it to remain. The void had been calling for Magnus with a voice Alec recognized, but it seemed like Magnus was having no trouble blanking it out as he forced all the demons into the portal. Ember had disappeared while everyone else took a well-earned rest on the benches, but Alec stood with his bow loaded in the ready position by his partner's side. The plan was almost complete, they just needed Ember.

"She's just vanished," Alec stated.

 _Be with your people; come with us_

"You've said that quite a lot, but the answer shall never change," sighed Magnus,

 _You would prefer to stay with the pitiful mortal?_

"Just 'mortal' would've been good enough," Alec commented.

A stray forsaken scrambled towards Magnus, but was quickly dispatched of by a swift arrow to its head. As a crack between him and Magnus formed, Alec looked around, hoping to see that Max was okay, but instead anxiety took hold of him when he couldn't spot him. The protective walls and the Eiffel Tower had become a much more vivid red and the air became so thick that it slowed Alec down as he moved next to Magnus.

"I need you to stay here and guard the portal; I'll find that bloody bitch," Magnus said before kissing Alec's cheek,

"Find Max as well," Alec begged.

With a stern nod, Magnus left Alec with the portal. Guarding the literal entrance to hell wasn't something Alec was used to doing, but he was very much glad to be on the outside of the portal, rather than the inside _again_. Any demon that hadn't gone into the portal, he shot down with his arrow and occasionally, he'd let them come closer to him and use his blades- just for a challenge.

 _I know of you, Lightwood_

Alec turned around sharply and stared at the glowing slab of glass, "How's that?"

Strangely, there was no reply for the hissing voice.

In the corner of his eye, Alec noticed something running towards him from the right. He swiftly turned in its direction while loading his bow, but then stopped when he saw Max running towards him. Just to know that Max was alive and okay put one of the biggest smiles on Alec's face as he put his bow and arrow away, knelt down and opened his arms as wide as he could.

"Papa!" Max cried.

Alec's eyes narrowed. Max only ever called Magnus 'Papa' which was _his_ idea to stop himself from getting confused as to what to called his new parents. But he was so elated that he didn't care what Max had called him and simply yelled his name.

"NO, DAD!" a voice yelled from behind.

When he quickly looked over his shoulder, Alec saw Max sprinting towards him with Jace and Clary waving their arms behind him. There were two Max's running towards him. But which one was the real Max? Alec whipped his head frantically from side to side, analysing the joyous Max that came from the right and the worried one that came from the left. It was rare to see Max anything other than happy, but he did tend to worry about his parents whenever they went on missions or if they were away for more than a day. Both of them had identical blue skin, hair, eyes, dark grey horns and they even ran in the exact same way. They were almost on him, and he had to make a choice.

"I made wig and beard out of bubbles and you kept laughing!" Max from the left shouted.

As Alec slid a dagger from his belt and faced the fake Max to the right, a ball of fire was thrown at him and he fell onto one of the large burning cracks in the ground. The immense heat burned through his top and scorched his back while he extinguished the flames on his jeans. Before he could get up, the fake Max stood over him with a dagger in his hand, his hair turning an unnatural bright yellow and his skin becoming a lighter blue. The agony of his burns forced Alec to move slower and when he kicked at whatever stood in front of him, it sinisterly smiled as it twisted its hand, breaking his leg and cackling hysterically at his painful shriek. It raised its dagger, aiming directly for his chest. This was not how Alec wished to die; his vision was to be old, with Magnus sitting next to him, showing him photos of their grown children and as the picturesque sky morphed into a gorgeous concoction of pink and orange and a soothing breeze graced his face, he'd close his eyes for the last time with Magnus whispering 'I love you'. He prayed that his family would move on and be happy as he stared death in the eyes.

The dragger struck down towards him.

A swift blue blur blocked him.

Grief took hold of him.

He couldn't be thankful for his second chance at life as Max stumbled back with the dagger deep in his stomach. The physical pain was outweighed by the emotional torture as a mournful cry left his chest and he sat up to catch his dying son. Max's eyes glowed like they always did, there was confusion in his face as he gazed up at his father and hearing him struggle for breath slowly shattered Alec's heart. He shook as he cradled Max and begged him to heal, but blood continued to pour from his wound and his fight for breath was beginning to end.

"MAGNUS! PLEASE!"

Magnus came in an instant with tears already cascading down his now pale face, as he took Max in his arms and formed glowing magic around him. The pain increased as well as the tears, while Alec could only helplessly watch Magnus desperately try to heal their first son. The world slowed down. The world began to become meaningless and worthless when he imagined his life without the blueberry that had blessed him with a family and joy that he once could only dream of. Izzy and Clary stood behind him as Jace drew an _iratze_ on his leg, but he didn't want to be healed- not when there was a chance that he could lose a part of his soul. Through his tears, he saw the fake Max turn into Ember who shook her head when she looked down at Max and moved to stand behind the Void portal so she couldn't be seen. Rage, repulsion and anguish created the strength for Alec to stagger to his feet, he loaded his bow and aimed for Ember. It didn't matter that his arrows wouldn't kill her; he _needed_ her to feel pain, to be consumed by torment and to be rendered weak with agony. Though she stood behind the glass slab, her arms and legs were exposed and he fired arrow after arrow into her limbs, only stopping when she fell to the ground. Despite seeing her face riddled with pain and the blood leak from his incisions, there was no satisfaction that could replace the hurricane of hurt manifesting inside him. When Ember attempted to get to her feet, she began to create a large sphere of flames, yet she didn't get to impale it on Alec. A circular streak of silver light fell and tightened around Ember's body, yanked her back and then released her, granting her her wish to witness the power of the Void. Theo looked on proudly but with remorse in his face when he looked at Alec and the green light of the portal pulsated as it devoured Ember and the ground began to shake. Alec looked at a weak Magnus who drew the dagger from Max's body, before letting his magic fade as he whispered to Max.

"Y-y-you need to wake up now. Rafe is waiting to play monopoly with you and you-you promised that you'd make me blue cookies," Magnus broke down, "Max p-p-please! Just open your eyes, please!"

Though Max was breathing and his deep wound had healed, he showed no sign of waking up and when Alec knelt by him, his tears dripped onto Max's cheek.

"I've done everything," Magnus whimpered as he looked hopelessly at Alec with tear filled eyes,

"He saved me, Magnus. This is my fault."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

Energy was something that Magnus had been completely drained of. To be able to close the portal to the void successfully and repair the damage it had created, he had to take strength from not only Alec, but Jace as well, but even if he had all the strength in the world, he'd still feel incredibly weak. Upon getting back to the Paris Institute, Alec lay Max on their bed and held his little hand in his, Clary stroked his hair like she would while watching him draw, Jace stood behind her with his hands carefully placed over her stomach and Magnus rested next to his unconscious son as he attempted to get back his strength. No one would leave Max's side. Time ceased to exist in the gloomy room and no one else mattered in the room apart from the boy lying next to Magnus. He'd occasionally see movement in the corner of his eye, get excited and then deflate when he realized it was just Clary's hand arranging Max's hair. Soon, the sound of small feet speeding towards the room started to become louder and with the swipe of his hand, Magnus slammed the door to the bedroom shut.

"He can't see his brother like this," he insisted as he slowly got up and made his way to the door.

Witnessing Alexander crying by Max's side was heart-rending, but he knew if he ever was forced to endure the sight of Rafael crying as he begged his brother to wake up, his spirit would cripple. Rafael knocked patiently on the door as he whistled merrily and asked for his parents and Max. Magnus didn't know what to say back to him as he rested his head against the door in silence. He willed for this all to be a very lucid nightmare that Alec would soon wake him from with a kiss and he'd see Max giggling at the end of his bed, yet when glanced back at Max, his heavy heart sank at the realisation that this was very much reality. Within seconds of knocking, Rafael began to kick the door and push against his father's fading magic. Eventually, Magnus stood back to let the door swing open, but he made sure Rafe couldn't see into the room with his body in the way. There were three boxes of steaming pizza in his arms as he stared up at him in confusion and when he tried to peak around his body, Magnus rapidly moved.

"What's going on?" Rafe asked.

How was he meant to conjure up the words to explain what had happened? He could barely stand straight as he ordered for Rafael to go back to his room, but the young boy was just as stubborn as his parents.

"Move out the way, Papa," Rafael demanded with his voice becoming louder,

Magnus was taken aback by his outburst, "Excuse me?"

With his patience obviously becoming obsolete, Rafael stamped on Magnus's foot, quickly pushed by him, handed Jace the pizza's and then looked at the bed. Magnus could barely watch his innocent son as he slowly moved towards the bed and looked up at Alec's distraught face. Rafael shook his head vigorously as he placed his hand on Max's chest to feel it rise and fall. While everyone else in the room had an aura of sadness, Rafael's seemed to be an aura of disbelief and hope and in an urgent attempt to wake up his brother, he repeatedly said his name. When he became bored of merely saying his name, Rafael climbed onto the bed and gazed down at Max as if to give him a small chance to wake up by himself.

He poked his nose- nothing.

He softly said his name again- nothing.

He plucked a feather out of one of the pillows and gently grazed in along Max's cheek, chin and neck. Magnus was prepared to pull Rafe off the bed and tell him to take the whole thing much more seriously, but as he reached for him, Max's nose began to twitch, his mouth started to curl and his eyes flickered. Tears of joy had never been more welcome as Max opened his eyes and wrestled his brother as if he had purely been having an elongated nap. Magnus squeezed Alec's shoulder as he felt his heart recuperate and he merrily said goodbye to the nightmare he had to briefly endure. He thought being a parent would be constant ups and downs, but he didn't realize that he'd be going from almost having a heart attack to thanking every angel in the sky. A weight was lifted from the room as it seemed to grow brighter and laughs circulated it rather than tears.

"Sometimes magic isn't always the answer," Rafael sighed as he sat on Alec's lap,

"And sometimes stamping on your father's foot results in punishments," Magnus replied as he picked up Max and gave him an abundance of kisses,

Max giggled as he pushed his father's lips away and buried his head in his neck, "There's pizza left right?"

"Of course that's the priority right now," Jace said as he stuffed his face with a slice of pizza.

After the almost grievous period, Clary was more than happy to eat pizza and then go to her room and collapse to the bed. She had never felt so exhausted and she almost forgot that she was pregnant as she contemplated the reasons for her strong desire to curl up under the covers and enter a deep sleep. But first, a steaming hot bath had to be had. While the bath was filling up, she messaged Simon, filling him in on everything that happened- something she knew Izzy had most likely already done- blissfully took off her clothes and then slid into the water. The heat was a slight sting at first, but quickly became welcomed as it alleviated every injury and scar and she let all worries and emotions melt into the water as she let it go up to her neck. When she closed her eyes, she could see the elated expression on Jace's face as he realized that they'd be having twins and when a smile grew on her face, she heard footsteps approach the bathroom. She didn't care who came in; she was too immersed in the soothing sensation of the water tickling her chin and the flow and flutter sounds of the water as her hands whirled around in it. While she listened to the music of the water, she felt familiar hands grace her shoulders and stroke her hair.

"You took your time," she hummed with her eyes still closed,

"Max was trying to re-enact his fights with demons," Jace softly chuckled,

"He was pretty amazing."

There was a brief silence until she felt feet enter the bath and she couldn't help but giggle as Jace entered and water began to spill over the sides. He parted his legs, making the perfect space for Clary to sit with her back against his chest and their hands locked as the water slowly began to settle. Only the bathtub, the water and the two of them were in existence as she took in Jace's husky scent and kissed along his jawline. His once hard finger tips had transformed into soft digits as they slid down her body and rested on her stomach as if his hands were a suit of armour. Her thinned hair cascaded down his shoulder like red vines, swirls could be created in the thick steam that had now completely conquered the room and Clary had found pleasure in poking her toes out of the water for a brief moment of coolness and the plunging them back into the relaxing volcano. She got to her knees and faced Jace, ignoring the water that trickled over the sides and grinning when Jace had to look up at her. Water dripped from her hair onto his cheeks and shoulders as their lips met and his arms slid up the curve of her back. The brisk raw cold would've been unbearable if it wasn't for Jace's embrace, his pecks flowed from her lips to her neck and half way down her stomach, before taking a deep breath and dipping under the water just to tickle her belly button. Pleads were obviously not going to stop him, leaving Clary no choice but to pull him up by force which only agitated the once calm water. When Jace got to his knees, they gazed into each other's eyes in silence while Clary ran her fingers through his wet hair and scrunched the ends in her hands and their delicate tender moment, turned into children splashing each other with water until there was no water left.

"I think I won," Jace laughed as he got out of the bath and wrapped a robe around him,

"But I won because you gave up," Clary smiled.

There were puddles all over the bathroom floor, but not enough towels or energy to attempt to dry them. As she stepped towards Jace, Clary slipped in one of the biggest puddles, but before she could think about keeping herself up, her husband had caught her and pulled her into him, wrapping his robe around her and kissing her head.

"What would you do without me?"


	26. Chapter 26

**The Final Chapter**

"Max slow down!"

"It's a glass pyramid! A pyramid of glass!" Max sang.

Whose idea was it to unleash Max into Paris?

Despite Magnus insisting that he required rest, with a lot of pleading and the promise of cleaning his room for an entire month, Max got his wish. Seeing the Eiffel Tower without having to hide from demons was much more exciting, the boat trip down the river Seine was kind of boring until Max was given some cookies and despite the number of steps, The Sacre Coeur was probably his favourite site so far. Well…that was before he saw the glass pyramid.

"How did it get there? Why is there two? I need reasons," Max rambled on as he pushed his way through the crowd around the famous glass pyramid.

As he stared through the glass, he noticed that the pyramid wasn't meant to be the main attraction; through it his eyes marvelled at a grand piece of architecture that showed off shades of gold, bronze and light blue and stretched around him like royal arms. Institutes were always a beautiful site, but this was on another scale of awe-inspiring beauty. As he gazed up at the building, he felt Magnus's hands rest on his shoulders and heard a panting Clary run into her place by Alec's side.

"I could live here," Max sighed,

"I knew the woman that did," Magnus commented.

Both Max and Rafael looked up at their father in wonder and prepared themselves for the next story he was going to tell them while opening their juice boxes. His stories would always fascinate them- the flying carpets, the portals, the people and now the last queen of France- and they'd much rather listen to their Papa spill out memories than go to a museum.

When the tour of Paris unfortunately came to an end, they headed back to the Institute to pick up anything they had left behind and say their goodbyes to Esme and Theo. Max sat in the kitchen, munching on the crunchy, gooey, chocolatey macaroon that he was told not to eat and shaking his Eiffel Tower snow globe so that the snow could never settle, keeping the magical glittering scene alive for as long as possible. As he stared into the swirling snow, a flash of sinister smoke exuding from a large dark bulls-head with ghoulish glowing blue eyes and the sound of agonising shouting bombarded his mind and painful goosebumps covered his skin. What if he ended up like his demon father? He couldn't imagine becoming so ugly and monstrous, but surely it was in his blood.

"You okay, Blueberry?" Rafael asked as he sat next to his brother.

Instead of even making a noise in reply, Max exhaled heavily and watched his untied lases flail as his legs swung beneath him. He was hoping that Rafael would allow the silence to avail, yet as his brother stood directly in front of him with a stern look, a sickening feeling grew in his stomach.

"What's on your mind?" Rafael asked.

Confidence in speaking to his brother was something Max had never lacked before, but this was hard, almost too hard to let out. How do you talk to a child of an angel about what's going on in the mind of a child of a demon?

"Talk to me, Max," Rafe placed his hands on Max's lap and gripped his legs.

Max vigorously shook his head.

"Please,"

"I don't want to be a monster," tears erupted from Max's glistening blue eyes.

Rafael wrapped his arms around him, allowing his brother's tears to soak his t-shirt as he rubbed his back and reassured him that everything was going to be okay. The fear of become the thing he saw that night was more prominent than his fear of the dark and was one he didn't think he'd be able to shake off. Slowly, the waterfall of tears began to cease, and Max found it easier to breathe, yet he still clung onto Rafael's shirt as if letting go was a sin.

"What if I become a steamy blue evil monster and I try kill you and papa and dad and aunt Clary and everyone and dad will have to kill me because I'm really evil and I-I-I-," saying the nightmare made it too real for Max as more tears cascaded from his eyes.

Rafael pushed Max up, caught as many of his tears as possible and lovingly kissed his forehead.

"Eres Inocencia. Tu eres puro. Eres mi hermano," he spoke softly, "and I will never, _ever_ allow that to happen to you. _We_ will _never_ let that happen."

Max fell back into Rafael's arms, burying his head into his now soggy shoulder and his tears of sadness and fear morphed into ones of joy and love. The words that were sung to him touched his heart and erased all the anguish and dread that was lingered inside.

"I love you, Maxi Moo," Rafael whispered,

"I love you, Rafe."

To end their adorable brother bonding moment, Alec yelled for the boys to come to the study where they would officially leave Paris. Max giggled as Rafael ran his hands through his hair and got to his feet. The moment they shared was one Max would never forget and would probably remind Rafael of as proof that he had said those all-important three words to him at least once.

"Let's go home," Max sniffled as he slid off the chair and took Rafael's hand, "Can we play game when we get back?"

They began to walk down the corridor merrily as if they lived in a world with no evil only good, no darkness only pure light, no demons only angels.

"Sure, but not hide and seek."


End file.
